Kenya to sell 15-year infrastructure bond in October

Kenya will sell a 15-year infrastructure bond to raise up to $296 million this month to fund road, water and energy projects, the central bank said on Sunday.

The bank said in a newspaper advertisement the bond will have a 12 percent coupon. It will take bids until October 18 and auction the paper on October 19.

Already an estimated Sh5.56 trillion investment into infrastructure development for Kenya is planned, the majority of which will focus on telecommunications and power generation infrastructure.

Kenya’s investment as a percentage of GDP rose from 18 per cent in 2000 to hit a high of 22.4 per cent in 2014 before receding to 21.2 per cent last year and is projected to rise to 22.5 per cent this year.

Despite having made significant progress in infrastructure development in recent years, the country’s infrastructure indicators remain below the levels found in Africa’s middle-income economies, like Egypt or Nigeria.

Analysts say bringing Kenya’s infrastructure up to the level of the region’s middle-income countries could boost annual growth by more than three percentage points.