NAIROBI, Kenya — President William Ruto on Tuesday rang the trading bell at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to mark the listing of shares in Kenya Pipeline Company, the first government privatisation initial public offering (IPO) at the bourse in nearly two decades.
The listing represents a major milestone in the government’s strategy to raise funds for infrastructure development through capital markets rather than traditional public borrowing.
“This occasion comes three years and four months since I first came here to launch the enhanced Nairobi Securities Exchange marketplace,” Ruto said during the ceremony.
“On that day, I promised that the government would bring Kenya Pipeline Company to the stock exchange. Today that moment has finally arrived.”
First privatisation listing since Safaricom
The Kenya Pipeline IPO is the first government-led privatisation listing since Safaricom was listed in June 2008.
Previous major listings of state-linked enterprises included Kenya Commercial Bank in 1988, Kenya Airways in 1996 and KenGen in 2006.
Ruto said the latest listing marks a strategic shift in how Kenya finances national development.
Unlike earlier privatisation proceeds that were absorbed into the general government budget, funds raised from the Kenya Pipeline IPO will be channelled into the newly created National Infrastructure Fund.
The president said the legislation establishing the fund was recently signed into law to ensure proceeds from the sale of public assets directly support infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure financing shift
Ruto argued that relying solely on dividends from state-owned enterprises would not generate enough resources to finance the country’s development ambitions.
“If we borrowed an amount equivalent to the proceeds of this IPO at about 12.5 P.c interest, we would pay roughly Sh13.5 billion annually in interest,” he said.
“That is nearly four times the Sh3 billion to Sh4 billion dividend the government’s 65 P.c stake in Kenya Pipeline would have generated.”
The president said proceeds from the IPO are expected to generate Sh106 billion, which will be invested through the National Infrastructure Fund.
According to the government, the fund will leverage the capital to finance projects worth up to Sh1.2 trillion, including major irrigation schemes aimed at expanding agricultural productivity.
Capital markets expansion
The president described the NSE as a critical platform for financing large-scale national projects.
In recent years, the government has increasingly turned to the capital markets to mobilise infrastructure funding, including a Sh3 billion Sukuk bond issued for military housing under the Affordable Housing Programme and a Sh44 billion infrastructure bond for the Talanta Stadium project.
Ruto said additional securities linked to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) will soon be introduced to help address pending bills in stalled road projects.
Combined, the government says these initiatives have generated Sh335 billion in off-budget infrastructure financing.
Broadening public ownership
The Kenya Pipeline IPO also recorded strong public participation, attracting more than 70,000 Kenyan investors.
The government said the transaction was Kenya’s first fully digital public offering, with all applications submitted electronically, making the process entirely paperless.
Ruto also highlighted the participation of the governments of Uganda and Rwanda in the share offering, describing it as a sign of deeper economic integration within the East African Community.
New privatisation framework
The Kenya Pipeline listing is also the first state-led IPO conducted under the new legal framework established by the Privatisation Act, 2025.
According to the government, the process involved Cabinet and parliamentary oversight as well as public participation and compliance with capital markets and competition regulations.
Ruto said the listing signals growing investor confidence in Kenya’s economy and demonstrates the country’s ability to mobilise domestic capital for development.
“With this listing, we are taking charge of our economic destiny and laying a firm foundation for accelerated national transformation,” the president said.
