Local investors and financial institutions, including pension funds, are primed for new opportunities as the Treasury targets them to fund the public-private-partnership (PPP) deals for seven more Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) assets, extending its policy shift toward domestic financing of mega infrastructure projects. Disclosures by the Treasury show that local investors and financial institutions would be granted priority to finance the planned PPP deals, including Mombasa port container terminal II (Berths 20–22); Mombasa port container terminal (Berths 23–24); Mombasa port cargo terminal – Mbaraki Wharfs; and the Mombasa port cargo terminal – Berths 1–5. The Mombasa port cargo terminal (Berths 7–10), Inland Container Depot (ICD) Nairobi (Embakasi), and the Inland Container Depot (ICD) Naivasha are also listed for the expanded portfolio of targeted PPP deals. The Treasury had initially listed four KPA assets for listing under the PPP model. The initial four included: Lamu Port Container Terminal (Berths 1-3), Mombasa Port (Berths 11-14), Mombasa Port Container Terminal I (Berths 16-19), and the Lamu Special Economic Zone. “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 coinvest in PPPs, they help anchor projects in national ownership, deepen accountability, and build resilience against external financing shocks and policy uncertainty,” it added. The State has adopted a policy shift toward tapping domestic capital for longterm infrastructure projects and established the National Infrastructure Fund to mobilise blended public and private funds for key projects. “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, struc - turing, and investment,” the Treasury said. As part of the local-investor policy shift, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is currently involved in the ongoing 236-kilometre Rironi– Mau Summit toll road, both as an equity and debt investor. NSSF has partnered with two Chinese Stateowned construction firms to build the road, which is expected to become the country’s second expressway-standard highway under a PPP model. Treasury disclosures also showed that Kenyan investors and financial institutions would also be granted a big role in the financing of the planned Sh473 billion Nairobi-Mombasa expressway. Tendering has already commenced, with the Treasury currently evaluating a joint proposal by the Kenya National Highways Authority and a US-based private equity firm, Everstrong Capital LLC. Besides the expressway project, the Kenyan government has also leveraged the capital markets through the issuance of the Talanta Infrastructure Bond a $400 million (Sh51.6 billion) transaction to finance the development of the Talanta Stadium. “This policy shift is already gaining traction,” the Treasury said. Data by the Retirement Benefits Authority shows that as of December 2025, total assets under management in the Kenyan pension industry stood at Sh2.81 trillion, while total assets in the insurance sector stood at Sh1.4 trillion by the end of the second quarter of 2025. The banking sector in Kenya had nearly Sh8 trillion assets by mid-2025.   (ICE NAIROBI)

Fonte notizia: Business Daily