The Kenyan government is turning to innovative financing to bankroll its most ambitious aviation upgrade in decades a KSh258.46 billion ($2 billion) expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) — without piling on unsustainable sovereign debt.
In September, Kenya will float a KSh175.75 billion ($1.36 billion) securitised bond on both local and international markets, a first-of-its-kind move aimed at tapping investor appetite for infrastructure-linked securities. The bond’s proceeds will primarily fund road projects, but the model is central to the planned JKIA overhaul.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir revealed that the expansion will be financed through the airport’s own revenue streams passenger fees, landing charges, and commercial income — which will be converted into tradable securities. Investors will be repaid from future airport revenues rather than the national treasury, shifting the fiscal burden from taxpayers to the asset itself.
“This model allows us to build first, concession later,” Chirchir said during the High-Level Public-Private Partnership Symposium in Nairobi on Monday. “We avoid adding to our debt stock while unlocking the full earning potential of strategic facilities like JKIA.”
The plan envisions funding partnerships with global development lenders including the Japan International Cooperation Agency, China Exim Bank, KfW, the European Investment Bank, and the African Development Bank. Once financing is secured, the government will move swiftly to procure contractors for a second runway and a new terminal.
If successful, the securitised bond could redefine how Kenya finances major infrastructure, reducing reliance on costly sovereign loans and setting a regional precedent for asset-backed project funding.
Beyond JKIA, Chirchir hinted at a bold long-term vision: building a new airport altogether to cement Kenya’s role as an aviation hub. “We are in the process of building a new one so that we really become an anchor state that attracts people, giving travellers that good feeling from the moment they arrive,” he said.
With debt servicing costs already consuming a large share of Kenya’s budget, the move marks a strategic pivot one that could reshape both the skyline of Nairobi’s gateway and the financial architecture of public projects.
