The Spearhead Africa Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), managed by Spearhead Africa Asset Management (SAAM), raised KES 3.4 billion (approximately USD 26 million) through its IPO, anchored by CPF Group and the UK Government’s FCDO through its MOBILIST programme.
Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury John Mbadi rang the opening bell. British High Commissioner Matt Baugh was in attendance describing the moment as reflecting a broader shift from traditional aid to investment-driven partnerships.
This is not just a capital markets story. It is an infrastructure story, a local currency story, and a market development story all at once.
A New Asset Class on the NSE
Before SAIF, infrastructure investment in East Africa was largely the domain of development finance institutions, private equity funds, and bilateral lenders inaccessible to most domestic investors and characterised by long lock-up periods, high minimums, and no secondary liquidity.
SAIF changes that. By listing on the NSE, investors can now buy and sell units on the exchange, a shift from past private deals that were difficult to access and lacked liquidity. Infrastructure has become a publicly tradeable asset class in Kenya for the first time, with the transparency and regulatory oversight that listing on a regulated exchange provides.
NSE CEO Frank Mwiti noted the listing is fully aligned with the NSE’s 2025–2029 Strategy to provide world-class investment instruments that facilitate efficient capital deployment making SAIF not an anomaly but a template.
The Local Currency Advantage
One of SAIF’s most structurally significant features is that it deploys capital in Kenyan shillings.
READ ALSO:How IFRS Enhances Listings on the Nairobi Securities Exchange
For infrastructure projects which generate revenues in local currency, this eliminates the foreign exchange risk that has historically made dollar-denominated debt a persistent vulnerability for East African borrowers.
Local currency infrastructure finance at scale is precisely what Kenya’s development agenda requires.
SAAM CEO Ngatia Kirungie put it directly: “SAIF demonstrates that local currency infrastructure finance can be delivered at scale.” For project developers across the region, that proof point is as valuable as the capital itself.
What SAIF Will Fund
The fund invests in senior debt across private-sector-led infrastructure projects in East Africa, targeting four sectors: renewable energy, digital infrastructure, logistics, and electrification.
Senior debt is the most secure position in a project’s capital structure, offering investors stable, predictable returns while financing the long-duration assets that underpin economic growth.
For retail and institutional investors seeking infrastructure exposure without the volatility of equity, it is the right instrument.
The MOBILIST Effect
SAIF is the second MOBILIST-backed listing on the NSE in 2026, following the Africa Logistics Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (ALP REIT), listed in March, East Africa’s first logistics-focused REIT.
The pattern is deliberate: MOBILIST’s anchor participation de-risks transactions at launch, enabling funds to reach scale and attract domestic institutional capital that might otherwise sit on the sidelines.
This UK-Kenya partnership model based on catalytic public capital unlocking domestic private capital is one of the more effective structures in development finance.
When it works, it changes market infrastructure permanently, not just for one transaction.
Why This Matters Beyond Kenya
East Africa’s infrastructure financing gap runs into the tens of billions annually.
Closing it requires not just more capital but different capital: patient, local currency, publicly accessible, and liquid enough to attract the pension funds and retail investors who hold the continent’s growing domestic savings pools.
SAIF Overview
Spearhead Africa Asset Management Limited: Spearhead Africa Asset Management Limited is a Kenya-based investment and asset management firm involved in infrastructure, private capital and alternative investment initiatives.
Ngatia Kirungie: Ngatia Kirungie is the Managing Director and CEO of Spearhead Africa Asset Management,
Infrastructure Fund Kenya / National Infrastructure Fund: Kenya has proposed and developed frameworks for a National Infrastructure Fund aimed at mobilizing long-term capital for roads, energy, housing, water, ICT and strategic infrastructure projects.
National Infrastructure Fund Act / National Infrastructure Fund Act, 2026: The proposed legislation provides the legal framework for establishing, governing and financing the National Infrastructure Fund, including investment governance, oversight and funding structures.
National Infrastructure Fund Board: The fund is expected to be overseen by a board responsible for governance, project approvals, investment management and accountability under the Act.
Source of National Infrastructure Fund: Funding sources may include:
- Government allocations
- Infrastructure bonds
- Pension and institutional investor capital
- Public-private partnerships (PPPs)
- Development finance institutions
- Sovereign and strategic investment contributions.
Leave a Reply