Ruto Signs Ksh.5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bill, Clearing Way for JKIA Expansion
President Ruto announced that JKIA would receive the first funding from the program which will receive Ksh.20 billion in equity from both National Investment Fund (NIF) and local institutional investors.
President William Ruto signs into law the Ksh.5 trillion National Infrastructure Bill, 2026, in State House, Nairobi on March 9, 2026. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
President William Ruto enacted the Ksh.5 trillion National Infrastructure Bill 2026 which enables the extension of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and other important infrastructure projects.
The legislation introduced by National Assembly Majority Leader Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah establishes a financing fund which will support essential projects for road and railway and port and irrigation and energy infrastructure development.
The National Assembly approved the Bill which establishes an investment-based framework for infrastructure financing to increase private sector investment in public projects. This program will function as a corporate investment fund which enables the government to decrease its need for tax revenue and borrowing while raising Ksh.5 trillion during the next decade.
President Ruto announced that JKIA would receive the first funding from the program which will receive Ksh.20 billion in equity from both National Investment Fund (NIF) and local institutional investors.
“The Fund is not experimental. The Nigeria Infrastructure Fund (2011) and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (2014) and India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (2015) and Canada Infrastructure Bank (2017) and the UK’s National Wealth Fund and South Africa’s Infrastructure Fund serve as successful examples of similar models which have already achieved success in other countries according to the President.
He explained that Kenya possesses substantial domestic capital resources because pension funds experienced a Ksh.700 billion asset growth during the last year which represents a 25 percent increase to reach a total of Ksh.2.81 trillion in pension assets.
The fund will be governed by a board consisting of eight members who include four independent directors hired through competitive recruitment three public officers who will join based on their expertise or their official position and the CEO who serves as an ex officio member.
The governing council will provide oversight through its members which include Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Central Bank of Kenya Governor Dr. Kamau Thugge and the Attorney General and six additional members who do not hold public office. The council will develop investment policies while selecting board directors through its recruitment process.
The fund will support five specific projects which include the Loosuk–Lessos power transmission line and the Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme and the Rironi–Naivasha–Mau Summit highway and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) extension to Malaba.
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