African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a $3 Billion Country Program with the Government of Kenya. Under the program, Kenya will be the first country to access Afreximbank’s recently introduced Climate Change Adaptation Facility to be implemented as a component of the country program, with an $800 million Kenya Climate Change Adaptation Facility (KCCAF). This will be directed towards developing 200 irrigation schemes under a public-private partnership framework using structures that are budget and sovereign-debt-neutral.
The program will also support viable trade and trade-related investments in Kenya in both the private and public sectors. The financing package will be implemented using several instruments, including loans, guarantee facilities, trade services, investment banking and advisory services.
In addition, Afreximbank will support Kenya’s industrialization and export-led development agenda by financing the development and operationalization of Special Industrial Zones to strengthen the country’s export manufacturing. The Bank will also support Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) to become a fully-fledged Export Trading Company (ETC), which will facilitate the emergence of an integrated national value chain and foster the growth of SMEs through improved access to finance and national and regional markets.
The memorandum was signed by Kenya’s Honourable Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of National Treasury and Economic Planning, Professor Njuguna Ndungu, and the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, in the presence of President William Ruto. The memorandum establishes a framework for the implementation of the Country Programme for the Republic of Kenya.
Furthermore, funds committed by Afreximbank under the Country Program will be directed towards the development of modern infrastructure and facilities and to upgrading existing infrastructure. Afreximbank will support a further deepening and expansion of the Kenyan banking industry by expanding its lines of credit and other product offerings to Kenyan banks to equip them with the muscle to support the local economy.
The Bank will support Kenya’s post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery and its ability to cope with shortages and high commodity prices due to the impact of the ongoing Ukraine Crisis.
Other critical areas of intervention of the Country Program include supporting the creative arts sector through the Kenyan government’s youth empowerment program, as well as supporting and stimulating regional and intra-African trade through capacity building of Kenyan enterprises to improve their ability to compete under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) framework.