9 November 20261 min read

Ruto says single-digit loans for manufacturers are coming

At the Kenya Industrialisation Summit on 4 November, President Ruto said a fund lending to manufacturers at single-digit interest is in its final stages, and manufacturers asked for cheaper power.

The entrance gate of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi — Photo: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Under 10%

interest on loans from the planned Industrialisation Fund, the President said; no start date yet

Speaking at the fourth Kenya Industrialisation Summit at KICC in Nairobi on 4 November, held alongside the Kenya Association of Manufacturers' Changamka Kenya Shopping Festival, President William Ruto said the government is in the final stages of setting up an Industrialisation Fund that would lend to manufacturers at single-digit interest rates.

He also spoke of a green investment fund of about Sh26 billion for environmentally sustainable investment, and repeated the targets of raising manufacturing from 7.1% of the economy to 20% by 2030 and creating one million jobs.

No size, start date, eligibility rules or exact interest rate for the Industrialisation Fund have been published.

Manufacturers ask for cheaper power

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers asked the government to bring down electricity prices. According to Capital FM's report of the summit, the association said businesses in Kenya paid an average of Sh23.70 per kWh over 2023 to 2025, against Sh16.02 in Uganda and Sh12.52 in Tanzania. The President acknowledged the high cost of electricity.

Why it matters

Credit and electricity are the two costs manufacturers raise most often.
The fund's terms are not public yet, so who could borrow from it, and on what conditions, is not known.
No decision on the National Industrialisation Policy, on which comments closed on 23 October, has been reported.

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