Images: PPP Directorate, the State Department for Public Investments and Asset Management, and summit organiser AME Trade Events.
NAIROBI, KENYA, 12 November 2026. Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Lee Kinyanjui and National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo have called on African governments to turn infrastructure ambition into bankable projects, as the 16th Africa PPP Infrastructure Finance, Investment and Partnerships Summit opened in Nairobi with more than 400 delegates from 36 countries.
The summit, hosted by Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Directorate and organised by AME Trade Limited with support from the State Department for Public Investments and Asset Management, runs from November 11 to 13 under the theme Building Africa’s Prosperity: Transformative Infrastructure, Investment and Partnerships to Accelerate Economic Development.
Key points
Kenya’s PPP pipeline stands at 60 projects: 54 national and six county. Ten, worth about KES 353 billion, are under implementation.
Government targets at least KES 70 billion in fresh private investment through PPPs this financial year, after approving seven new projects in the first quarter.
Dr. Kiptoo: the National Infrastructure Fund is now capitalised to about three billion dollars through privatisation proceeds and Safaricom earnings.
CS Kinyanjui: the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit PPP highway is about 40 percent complete, already cutting the Nakuru run to about 90 minutes.
Africa needs 130 to 170 billion dollars a year for infrastructure against a gap of 68 to 108 billion dollars, despite more than four trillion dollars in domestic savings.
The test is delivered infrastructure, not announcements
CS Kinyanjui, standing in for Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning John Mbadi, framed the summit’s central question in plain service-delivery terms, noting that citizens do not ask about financing structures but about results.
When will the road be completed? When will the water flow? And when will the electricity reach my factory? And when will the jobs be created?
Hon. Lee Kinyanjui, Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, reading CS John Mbadi’s speech at the Africa PPP 2026 launch
PPPs, he cautioned, must never become an end unto themselves, nor a simple way of raising money or transferring expenditure away from government balance sheets. A successful PPP, he said, must provide value for money, affordability, transparency, appropriate risk allocation and sustainable benefits to citizens. Success is not measured by the amount of private capital announced, but by whether the resulting infrastructure improves lives, supports production and creates jobs.
On the flagship Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway, a Ksh. 183 billion PPP, he noted the structure has already changed the corridor: a stretch that used to swallow five to six hours on congested weekends now runs to about an hour and a half to Nakuru at the current 40 percent completion, with full completion set to transform the competitiveness of economies across that section.
De-risking projects with domestic capital
Dr. Kiptoo told the launch that Kenya is pairing its PPP programme with a newly capitalised National Infrastructure Fund to crowd in private money without leaning on the Excheque
We have to think of innovative ways to finance our infrastructure, Dr. Kiptoo said, noting the fund now stands at about three billion dollars, capitalised through privatisation proceeds from parastatals and Safaricom. The purpose, he said, is to de-risk projects and attract private financing so that major projects are financed without resorting to the budget.
As the accounting officer of the National Treasury, he added that he could not imagine how the Nairobi Expressway would have been built without the PPP route. We have to do it through PPPs, he said.
Making projects bankable
The continental arithmetic behind the push is stark: Africa requires between 130 billion and 170 billion dollars in infrastructure investment annually, leaving a financing gap of between 68 billion and 108 billion dollars, even with more than four trillion dollars held in domestic savings and assets across the continent.
Summit discussions target the reasons pension funds, insurers, banks and other institutional investors remain underrepresented in infrastructure financing: project preparation, risk allocation and blended finance structures. A project preparation masterclass on Wednesday, November 11, Preparing Bankable Infrastructure Projects for PPP and Private Sector Financing, walked sponsors through investor requirements, while a deal room, business breakfasts and technical visits on November 14 pair project owners with potential financiers.
Principal Secretary for Public Investments and Asset Management Cyrell Wagunda urged early investment in feasibility studies, technical assessments, environmental and social safeguards, land acquisition planning and appropriate risk allocation to avoid delays during negotiations and implementation. PPP Director General Eng. Kefa Seda called on delegates to use the summit for practical knowledge sharing, candid engagement and collective problem solving.
The 2026 edition marks the second time Kenya hosts the summit, following the successful third edition in 2011.
