Inside government's Sh4 trillion infrastructure overhaul plan
Business
By
Graham Kajilwa
| Oct 14, 2025
President William Ruto during the launch of Phase I of Konza Technopolis City in Makueni County, on October 13, 2025. [PCS]
The government is set to table a Bill in Parliament to establish the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), a key initiative by President William Ruto aimed at mobilising Sh4 trillion for major development projects across the country.
The fund will be used to finance infrastructure in critical sectors such as roads, rail, airports, water and sanitation, and electricity.
While a portion of the fund will be raised through budgetary allocations, private investors will also chip in. Funds from privatisation of state agencies will also end up in the pot.
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Of the Sh4 trillion mentioned by President Ruto on Monday as he launched strategic projects among them affordable housing at Konza Technopolis City in Makueni County, Sh1 trillion is earmarked for power generation.
Some Sh1.5 trillion will go towards 50 dams and another Sh1.5 trillion for road, rail and airports. Ruto while wooing investors to the Silicon Savannah, noted how lack of enough power is an impediment to industrialisation of the economy. While citing Vipingo, Dongo Kundu, Konza Technopolis, and Naivasha where special economic zones (SEZ) have been established, Ruto said these establishments raise the demand for power.
“We do not have enough electricity to transform our nation. Today we only have 2300MW and on peak hours, we do not have enough power” he said. “As a country, we urgently, within the next five to seven years, need 10,000MW of energy. To generate 10,000MW of energy, we need about Sh1 trillion. It is not a lot of money; we can find it.”
Part of this power is expected to be generated from the 50 dams, which will be the size of Thwake Dam. These dams are also expected to play a pivotal role in food security. The plan is to have additional two million acres of land under irrigation away from Galana Kulalu.
More land under irrigation, according to the head of the state will mean more exports to the new markets that Kenya has signed agreements with, and reduced imports of food stuffs that average Sh500 billion annually.
“We have almost exhausted land under rain feed agriculture. We now must move to irrigation. We need to spend at least Sh1.5 trillion to build 50 mega dams like Thwake so that we can irrigate two million acres,” he said.
The Sh4 trillion budget will also go into expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and one at Konza Technopolis, a minimum of 1,000 km of dual carriage ways, 10,000 km of tarmac, extension of the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Malaba and facilitate access to clean water.
“We need close to Sh1.5 trillion to be able to achieve that. Where do we find the money? By putting together resources from our budget, building resources from private sector, and privatisation, we will be able to create a big pool of resources that we can use.”
He added: “Shortly, we will be taking to parliament the law to establish a national infrastructure fund that is going to help us to achieve these three objectives.”
Ruto who was accompanied by various leaders announced the support of Korean government to facilitate the dualing of Mombasa Road from Machakos junction to Emali.
“We will continue to mobilise resources and attract investors to make Konza Africa’s the smartest city,” he said.