Kenya mulls reforms to attract pension funds to invest in infrastructure projects.

Kenya is considering a number of legal reforms in order to attract both foreign and domestic pension funds to invest in infrastructure projects, a government official said on Wednesday.

Julius Muia principal secretary, National Treasury told a virtual meeting that the government is keen to tap on private sector resources in order to close the infrastructure funding gap.

“If there are laws or policies that will make it easier for foreign and domestic pension funds to invest in infrastructure as an asset class, we are ready and willing to discuss,” Muia said during the launch of the Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium (KEPFIC) by the World Bank and other partners.

KEPFIC will enable pension schemes to jointly make sustainable long-term infrastructure and alternative asset investments in the country.

Muia revealed that pensions are an ideal source of funds for infrastructure because of their long term profile and hence have a perfect asset liability match with long term projects.

He said that the government is keen to diversify sources of funding of public projects in order to reduce reliance on traditional sources of revenues.

According to the national treasury, tax collections are not growing as fast as expected while funding from development partners is also diminishing.

Muia added that the private sector will fund infrastructure projects through the public private partnership framework.

He observed that two major expressways have been identified which will be financed through the private sector in order to shift public resources to other social sectors of the economy such as health and education.

The government official revealed that discussions are ongoing with multilateral finance institutions in order to reduce the risks associated with investing in infrastructure projects. Enditem

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