Kenya to invest $31B in infrastructure over next decade

Kenya plans to invest $31 billion in infrastructure development over the next decade, President William Ruto said.

Funds from the government budget, state asset sales, and private sector resources will be pooled to build new roads, rail, and power projects.

Ruto’s administration inherited a debt crisis upon taking office three years ago and has struggled to reduce its budget financing gap. Planned tax hikes prompted deadly protests last year that forced Ruto to row back on some economic plans. And the government’s tax collector missed its revenue target by more than $370 million for the year ending in July.

While this year’s budget is “on track,” Kenya’s future spending plans are being drawn up “against persistent fiscal challenges, including revenue shortfalls, rising public debt and debt servicing costs,” the treasury said last month.

Cover photo:  Monicah Mwangi/Reuters