Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has raised concern over Africa’s growing infrastructure financing shortfall, warning that rising debt burdens and shrinking fiscal space are holding back economic progress across the continent.
Speaking during the Africa We Build Summit 2026 in Nairobi on Thursday, Mbadi said Kenya mirrors the wider African reality, where governments are grappling with high debt levels while struggling to fund critical development projects. He revealed that Kenya’s public debt currently stands at “approximately 65 to 67% of our GDP,” with debt servicing taking up “about 50% of our ordinary revenue.”
He said the situation has left limited room for investment in key sectors, even as the demand for modern infrastructure continues to rise.
“Africa continues to be a persistent infrastructure financing gap with critical shortages in key sectors such as energy, transport and digital connectivity,” Mbadi said. “These gaps constrain economic growth, limit productivity and slow our collective development ambitions.”
According to Mbadi, governments across the continent are being forced to carefully juggle between funding development projects and managing strained budgets. He pointed to global financial conditions that have made borrowing “more expensive, less predictable and restrictive for developing economies,” adding further pressure on already stretched public finances.
He warned that the gap between infrastructure needs and available funding calls for a shift in how projects are financed.
“The problem that we have been undergoing is to do 21st Century infrastructure development by using 20th century financing models,” he said.
Mbadi outlined Kenya’s move to reduce reliance on debt by embracing blended financing approaches that bring together public and private capital. He highlighted the creation of a National Infrastructure Fund, which has been set up with an initial capital of $3 billion to support viable projects.
“This is a fund that is designed to mobilize capital for commercially viable public infrastructure projects,” he said, noting that it will finance project preparation, feasibility studies, and implementation.
He also stressed the need to rethink how infrastructure is planned, urging a broader view that goes beyond standalone projects. He described economic corridors as integrated systems that support production and industrial growth.
“Corridor is not about roads… it is an integrated system. It is an economic ecosystem… about production, industrialization, value addition and employment creation,” he explained.
Mbadi added that Kenya is also exploring other financing options, including securitisation in the road sector and renewed efforts to strengthen public-private partnerships to draw in more investment.
He said the summit provides a platform for African countries to rethink development financing and unlock the capital required to drive industrial growth and long-term economic transformation.