Nairobi — President William Ruto convened a Cabinet meeting on December 14, 2025, to consider and approve the establishment of a National Infrastructure Fund aimed at mobilising up to Sh5 trillion to finance large-scale development projects across the country.
Ruto said the fund will serve as a dedicated financing vehicle for flagship mega-projects, blending public resources with private capital from local and international investors, development finance institutions and pension funds.
"Tomorrow is when willl officially start our journey transforming Kenya from third-world to first-world. Tomorrow is when we will pass a special fund, National Infrastructure Fund that will be used to raise Ksh5 trillion of transforming this country. We are not joking, Kenya must be transformed by all means possible," he said.
Ruto used his November 20, 2025, State of the Nation Address to unveil an ambitious Sh5 trillion plan to 'move Kenya from developing to developed" status, anchored on large-scale investment in people, irrigation, energy, and transport' and financed without piling on unsustainable debt.
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President Ruto has consistently argued that sustained investment in infrastructure is critical to accelerating economic growth and lifting millions of Kenyans into the middle class.
The Head of State said Kenya must "cast off the prevailing mindset of being content with the average" and emulate Asian Tigers such as South Korea and Malaysia, which he said rose through discipline, strategic investment and refusal to accept mediocrity.
"And all this work I am doing is not because I am looking for votes. I have passed the level of seeking votes. I want to change Kenya. That is my mission."
"Because if it is about votes, didn't you vote for me in 2022? Isn't that vote you gave me enough for me to do this work for you? So people should not bother themselves with issues of votes. The vote will come later, and God is the one who will decide. And those citizens are the ones who decide that the person of bragging, noise, insults, and all that should be taken home quickly," Ruto said.
The President acknowledged that for years Kenya has relied on debt - including major infrastructure loans from China and other lenders - to finance roads, rail, ports and energy projects, but said this model must change.
To fund the new push, Ruto announced the creation of a National Infrastructure Fund and a Sovereign Wealth Fund that will ring-fence privatisation proceeds and natural resource royalties for long-term investment, instead of using them to plug annual budget gaps.
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All proceeds from privatisation of State corporations will be channelled into the infrastructure fund, which will then be used to attract up to 10 times more in private capital from pension funds, sovereign partners and development financiers.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund will, he said, save a portion of resource revenues for future generations, provide a stabilisation buffer against global shocks and invest commercially in strategic projects.
