NAIROBI, Kenya — The Cabinet has officially approved the creation of the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) and the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), marking a significant milestone in President William Ruto’s long-term economic transformation agenda.
These twin pillars are designed to decouple national development from a heavy reliance on external borrowing and domestic taxation by leveraging private capital and natural resource wealth.
The National Infrastructure Fund (NIF)
Approved as a limited liability company, the NIF is set to become the primary engine for funding national priorities.
By operating commercially, the government intends to attract high-value private sector partners to finance large-scale projects.
According to the official communiqué, the fund will ensure all proceeds are directed toward “public infrastructure projects that generate and preserve long-term value”. The fund utilizes a “multiplier effect” to maximize impact:
“Every shilling invested through the Fund is expected to crowd in up to Ksh.10 additional shillings from long-term investors, including pension funds, sovereign partners, private equity funds and development finance institutions,” the dispatch noted.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and ‘Urithi’
The newly enacted SWF Bill of 2025 reintroduces a framework for managing revenues from minerals, petroleum, and dividends from public investments.
Unlike the 2014 proposal, this version focuses on three core pillars: stabilization, strategic investment, and the Future Generation (Urithi) savings.
The government emphasized that the principal purpose for the creation of an SWF is to shield the economy from external shocks, such as global pandemics or geopolitical conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war, which disrupt supply chains.
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The administration described this transition as a historic move:
“This financing architecture marks a decisive shift toward a sustainable, investment-led development model that mobilises capital, accelerates delivery, preserves national value and secures lasting prosperity for present and future generations.”
A Ksh 5 trillion development roadmap
The NIF and SWF will serve as the financial backbone for President Ruto’s ambitious Ksh 5 trillion development plan over the next decade. The roadmap targets four “game-changing” sectors:
- Water & Food Security: Construction of 50 mega-dams, 200 mini-dams, and 1,000 micro-dams to support 2.5 million additional acres of farming.
- Transport Infrastructure: Dualling 2,500 km of highways, tarmacking 28,000 km of roads, and extending the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
- Energy & Logistics: Modernization of regional airports and the expansion of oil pipelines.
- Social Transformation: Significant upgrades within the education sector.
To ensure transparency and fiscal discipline, the NIF will be led by a competitively recruited Board and CEO, while the SWF will operate under a “robust policy framework” designed to guarantee inter-generational equity.
