The National Treasury is lined up for a Sh. 60 billion windfall in external funding from 14 countries towards funding its 2024/25 Financial Year development budget.
Accordingly, this is a Sh. 6 billion drop from the amount received by the Kenyan Government in the 2023/2024 Financial Year from its allies.
Over and above the loans, the Treasury will receive an additional Sh. 5.5 billion from various countries in grant form towards development projects funding in the 2024/25 financial year.
The countries that are going to lend money to Kenya are Finland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, China, Israel, Poland, and Hungary.
The rest that will also come to the aid of Kenya’s development agenda through grants are Denmark, Sweden and the United States, respectively.
Japan will advance Kenya the highest sum of Sh. 14 million in the form of a loan and further Sh. 353 million as a grant.
France, one of the major allies of Kenya, shall advance President William Ruto’s government to the tune of Sh. 11.7 billion and an additional Sh. 828 million in grants.
Germany will lend Kenya the third-highest amount of Sh. 9 billion and nearly Sh. 3 billion in grants.
China, which holds over 20% of Kenya’s foreign debt, will lend Sh. 7.3 billion to President William Ruto’s administration with no grant. Scandinavian countries and Finland are key development partners for Kenya; most of the help from these nations is advanced in grant form as opposed to loans.
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To that end they will chip in: Finland (Sh. 970 million and a Sh. 500 million grant), Denmark (Sh. 100 million grant) and Sweden (Sh. 60 million grant).
Other countries in order of their contribution are: Italy (Sh. 2 billion), Italy (Sh. 2 billion), Saudi Arabia (Sh. 1.2 billion), Israel (Sh. 1 billion), Poland (Sh. 1 billion) and Kuwait (Sh. 919 million).
The package includes a grant of Sh. 231 million that the United States, through USAID, will offer for various US-sponsored projects on different development projects.
Thirdly, Kenya is going to borrow an additional Sh. 53 billion from international financial institutions such as the World Bank, African Union, and the European Investment Bank, among others.
In total, Kenya is seeking to borrow Sh. 113 billion from external sources and receive an additional Sh. 31 billion in grants in the 2024/25 financial year.
This figure is set to increase following a decision by President William Ruto to shelve Sh. 346 billion that was to be sourced through Finance Bill 2024.