World Bank pledges $4bn to Kenya

The World Bank will lend Kenya $4-billion over the next four years to help finance new infrastructure and other areas of the economy to boost growth and cut poverty.

Thomas O’Brien, the Bank’s country coordinator for Kenya, Rwanda and Eritrea, said the bulk of the funds, about $600-million to $800-million annually, would be in concessionary loans to the government for transport, energy and other projects.

The rest will be direct lending to firms through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and in form of guarantees to foreign investors.

“We are going to be investing … $4-billion over the next several years to help spur economic growth (and) to bring down poverty,” O’Brien told Reuters after the launch of the bank’s Kenya strategy to mid-2018.

Kenyan officials are racing to build new roads, airports, seaports and energy plants to keep up with growing demand and to cut costs of doing business, but O’Brien said more was needed.

By: Reuters