NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 9 – Newly appointed National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) CEO James Mworia has backed the listing of an infrastructure development fund on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), arguing that it would unlock new investment opportunities and provide access to additional financing.
Speaking at Africa Capital Week 2026, Mworia said a listed NIF Infrastructure Development Fund could leverage regulations governing Development Real Estate Investment Trusts (D-REITs) to raise funds for infrastructure projects.
“One of the solutions I have in mind is we create an NIF Infrastructure Development Fund that is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, which can borrow from the regulations of the D-REIT,” Mworia said.
“For example, we can take them and multiply them for infrastructure. What that does is that investors can now come into a liquid instrument to address your asset liability mismatch and I can buy and sell. So that automatically you have addressed the asset liability mismatch issue,” he added.
Mworia, who previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Centum Investments, was appointed the inaugural CEO of the NIF earlier this week.
His immediate priorities include setting up the fund’s organisation, systems and workforce, developing its institutional culture, mobilising co-investment capital and building a pipeline of infrastructure projects.
The NIF Board, which includes Fahima Ali Ahmed Zein, Christopher Kibui Maranga, Latoya Ouna, Lawrence Kibet and Mohammed Abdirahman Hassan, was approved by the National Assembly in March to mobilise nearly Sh5 trillion over the next decade to finance infrastructure projects.
The fund is expected to finance projects in areas including highways, railways, ports, agribusiness infrastructure and energy systems.
The NIF will use both public and private-sector financing, with funding expected from government allocations, private investment, privatisation proceeds, grants and loans.
