Kenya’s President, His Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto, CGH, affirmed his strong desire to build sustainable, high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment in the country and beyond through closer partnership with the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) during a bilateral meeting with MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang in Nairobi on 4 February.
CEO Wang and his team’s engagement with President Ruto was accompanied by parallel meetings with senior government officials, including H.E. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary; Hon. John Mbadi, Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning; Mr. Felix Koskei, Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service; Dr. Bonface Makokha, Principal Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning; and Dr. Lawrence Kibet, Director General, National Treasury.
The discussions with President Ruto and senior officials centered on how MCDF could further support the country’s connectivity infrastructure priorities across the transport, energy, and telecommunications sectors and their emphasis on realizing greater climate‑resilience and sustainable and inclusive growth.
President Ruto underscored Kenya’s commitment to boosting strategic regional transport corridor development with neighboring countries, comprising roads, railways, and airports, as well as renewable energy generation to advance green economic transformation. He expressed appreciation for MCDF’s USD3.15 million grant to fund the preparation of the Mau Summit-Malaba Road enhancement project, which he said illustrates the importance of taking Kenya’s partnership with MCDF to the next level.
“Kenya values MCDF’s partnership‑first approach and focus on accelerating high-quality connectivity infrastructure development,” noted President Ruto. “As we advance our transformation agenda, Kenya’s National Infrastructure Fund, to be established in the near future, will be key to mobilizing investment for strategic national projects. We look forward to deepening collaboration with MCDF to take projects forward,” he continued.
CEO Wang thanked President Ruto for his trust and committed to maximizing opportunities for Kenya to harness MCDF support to propel its development agenda. This includes MCDF connectivity project preparation and capacity building grants and information and knowledge-sharing collaboration on International Financial Institution (IFI) standards and good practices for project preparation, financing, and delivery.
“Kenya is a dynamic regional leader with a clear vision for sustainable, high-quality infrastructure connectivity,” said CEO Wang. “MCDF is committed to working hand-in-hand with Kenya to open up new avenues for the country to utilize, and benefit from, connectivity infrastructure cooperation with MCDF and its expanding partnership network.”
Prime Cabinet Secretary H.E. Musalia Mudavadi praised MCDF’s role in convening IFIs and development partners to mobilize connectivity project preparation and highlight lessons and approaches for ensuring its positive impacts. He said this could help Kenya to accelerate “last‑mile” connectivity and foster resilient transport corridors to spur trade and economic integration in East and Southern Africa.
“We welcome MCDF and its partners to work with us in preparing, financing, and delivering transformative connectivity infrastructure,” said Prime Cabinet Secretary Mudavadi.
CEO Wang thanked Prime Cabinet Secretary Mudavadi for visiting the MCDF Secretariat in Beijing in April 2025 and laying a solid foundation for greater Kenya-MCDF collaboration.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Hon. John Mbadi articulated Kenya’s significant interest in joining MCDF’s governing bodies, the MCDF Governing Committee and MCDF Coordination Committee, to enhance its cooperation and strategic engagement with MCDF.
CEO Wang said that MCDF is ready to step up support for Kenya in preparing high‑quality connectivity infrastructure projects and organize targeted capacity building programs.
Kenyan senior officials agreed to submit the country’s priority project proposals suitable for MCDF grant support, in collaboration with MCDF Implementing Partners, scale up capacity building cooperation, and further elevate Kenya’s participation in MCDF’s information and knowledge-sharing activities.
Mr. Wang also thanked the senior officials for accepting his invitation to Kenya to participate in discussions in 2026 on MCDF strategy for its next phase and MCDF’s first replenishment meeting on 30 March in Beijing to position the country as one of the core voices in shaping MCDF’s future direction.
Contact
David Hendrickson
Senior Communications Officer
Mobile: +86 185 0114 6758
david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
