The Government has reaffirmed its strong partnership with the World Bank, recognizing the institution as one of the country’s most reliable development partners in driving economic transformation.
Speaking after a high-level meeting, Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said, “The World Bank is one of Kenya’s strongest and most reliable development partners, playing a critical role in supporting our economic transformation agenda.”
The meeting, held alongside Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Hon. John Mbadi, welcomed World Bank Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer Wencai Zhang to review ongoing support under budget operations and project financing aligned with Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Kenya currently manages a World Bank portfolio of 31 active projects with total commitments of USD 5.96 billion, supporting priority sectors such as education, water, housing, roads, energy, urban development, and institutional strengthening. The discussions also covered the IDA 21 cycle pipeline of priority projects, aimed at accelerating service delivery and fostering inclusive growth.
A key focus of the engagement was job creation, youth empowerment, and industrialisation. PS Kiptoo highlighted progress on the World Bank-supported NYOTA Programme, which provides start-up capital, skills development, and market linkages for young entrepreneurs.
“The programme is a critical platform for promoting value addition, agro-processing, MSME growth, and the development of local manufacturing and industrial ecosystems,” he noted.
The meeting also included World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa Ndiamé Diop and World Bank Country Director for Kenya Qimiao Fan, among other senior officials.
PS Kiptoo further underscored the government’s commitment to clearing pending bills, a move intended to support businesses, restore confidence, and strengthen public finance management. The Pending Bills Verification Committee, gazetted in September 2023 under Gazette Notice No. 13355 and led by Edward Ouko, has verified 29,257 bills valued at KSh 155.3 billion covering obligations accumulated between June 2005 and June 2022.
He added that he also met with Principal Secretary for Wildlife Silvia Museiya as the committee finalizes verification of a limited number of outstanding claims related to human–wildlife conflict compensation at Kenya Wildlife Service.
The meeting aimed to address documentation gaps and ensure that all legitimate claims are settled, providing much-needed liquidity to flow back into the economy.
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