NAIROBI, Kenya
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki strongly defended the government’s partial privatization of key state enterprises, announcing that the state has secured KSh 245 billion from offloading a 15% stake in Safaricom PLC to serve as seed capital for the newly formed National Infrastructure Fund (NIF).
Speaking at the Harambee House Annex in Nairobi, Kindiki framed the transaction as a strategic economic multiplier that will scale up critical public developments without driving the country deeper into debt.
He disclosed that the infrastructure fund has additionally accumulated KSh 100 billion from a prior Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) stake sale, pushing total seed reserves to KSh 345 billion.
Kindiki argued the fund eliminates the need for further debt, aiming to leverage each invested shilling into KSh 10 for massive water and transport projects, including 50 mega dams.
However, the sale to South Africa’s Vodacom Group has triggered intense legal and political backlash, with Kalonzo Musyoka and former DP Rigathi Gachagua moving to block the deal.
Musyoka described the sale as selling “Kenya’s soul” to feed a cash-desperate government, alleging a lack of transparency.
Opponents claim the sale undervalued national assets and lacked public participation, with legal teams vowing to move to the Supreme Court, according to reported filings.
The National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) aims to utilize KSh 345 billion in seed capital from state enterprise divestments to generate KSh 3.45 trillion in project funding through a 10x leverage model .
This structure employs tiered capital to provide first-loss protection for investors, utilizes the cash to secure private syndicated debt and employs blended finance to attract 90% private funding for infrastructure projects
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