The National Treasury has widened its infrastructure financing programme by adding seven more port-related projects under the public-private partnership model, with a strong focus on mobilising domestic investors to fund assets managed by the Kenya Ports Authority.
The new list includes key facilities at the Port of Mombasa such as container terminal II at Berths 20–22, container operations at Berths 23–24, cargo handling at Mbaraki Wharfs, and Berths 1–5. It also covers cargo activities at Berths 7–10, as well as the Inland Container Depot in Embakasi and the Inland Container Depot in Naivasha.
This expansion builds on an earlier phase that had identified four assets for PPP investment, including Lamu Port Container Terminal at Berths 1–3, Mombasa Port Berths 11–14, Mombasa Port Container Terminal I at Berths 16–19, and the Lamu Special Economic Zone.
The Treasury says the approach is designed to strengthen domestic financing channels while reducing exposure to external funding risks and global market volatility.
“The deliberate inclusion of local institutional and retail investors not only strengthens domestic resource mobilisation but also serves as a natural hedge against political and sovereign risk,” the Treasury said in reference to the KPA asset deals.
“When citizens, pension funds, and local financial institutions co-invest in PPPs, they help anchor projects in national ownership, deepen accountability, and build resilience against external financing shocks and policy uncertainty,” it added.
The strategy is anchored on the National Infrastructure Fund, which is intended to pool public and private capital for long-term projects. The Treasury noted that Kenya has sufficient financial resources locally but lacks structured coordination to fully channel them into PPP investments.
“Although Kenya’s financial system is deep and diverse, it has barely realised its potential in financing PPPs. This shortcoming is not due to a lack of capital, but rather the absence of deliberate coordination and structured engagement of domestic financial institutions in PPP origination, structuring, and investment,” the Treasury said.
Early examples of this model are already visible in the 236-kilometre Rironi–Mau Summit toll road, where the National Social Security Fund is participating as both an equity and debt investor alongside two Chinese state-owned firms. The project is expected to become the country’s second expressway-standard highway under a PPP arrangement.
Attention is also shifting to the proposed Nairobi-Mombasa expressway, valued at Sh473 billion, where the government is evaluating a joint proposal involving the Kenya National Highways Authority and US-based Everstrong Capital LLC.
The State has also leveraged capital markets through the Talanta Infrastructure Bond, a $400 million issuance aimed at financing the construction of Talanta Stadium.
“This policy shift is already gaining traction,” the Treasury said.
Data from the Retirement Benefits Authority shows that pension funds stood at Sh2.81 trillion as of December 2025, while insurance assets reached Sh1.4 trillion by mid-2025. The banking sector, meanwhile, held nearly Sh8 trillion in assets, highlighting the scale of domestic capital available for infrastructure investment.
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