Kenya had only one infrastructure project with private sector investment in the one-year period to December 2023 despite receiving 30 commitments from global investors, a report shows.
The World Bank's Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) report says the number could be a reflection of the overall decline in privately funded projects in the entire continent as a result of global economic shocks stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the previous year, the lender says Kenya was among countries that had substantive number of privately funded infrastructure projects alongside South Africa, which was the leading investment destination.
Compared to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and DRC, Kenya had the least number of investment commitments as well as the number of projects with private sector involvement.
Uganda had 73 commitments with three projects involving the private investors while Tanzania had 308 and five, respectively.
Rwanda witnessed a total of 43 commitments with three projects involving the private investors whereas the DRC had 287 commitments and 4 projects involving the private players.
The country's least number of private investor involvement in development projects also points towards the poor business environment as highlighted by the global business intelligence & market insights firm, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
In its March report, the unit ranked Kenya among places with a weak business environment but with a potential for improvement over the next five years.
Generally in the Sub Saharan Africa, the period under review saw investments in 66 projects totalling $3.5 billion (Sh459 billion).
This marked a 24 per cent decrease from the investment levels of the previous year, and a 46 per cent decrease from the past five-year average.
“The largest contributor to the region’s PPI was South Africa, responsible for 30 per cent of the regional PPI, followed by Senegal and Tanzania,” the report reads.
“Energy sector received the largest share of PPI, followed by ICT sector.”
In 2022, 37 projects in the region received investments totalling $4.9 billion, which represented 0.25 per cent of the region’s GDP.
It marked a 10 per cent decrease in investment levels from the previous year, and a 15 per cent decrease from the average investment levels over the previous five years.
However, the number of projects and countries with PPI transactions in the region were the highest in the past decade.
In the current review period, the Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) region reported investment commitments of $2.3 billion (Sh301.6 billion) across 45 projects.
Notably, while investment levels remained stable from the previous year, the number of projects reaching financial closure more than doubled to 45 in 2023.
South Africa reported 11 projects, amounting to just over $1.0 billion in investment commitments and nearly a half of the regional investment commitments.
The other 15 countries posted investment commitments in the region, including, but not limited to, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
The region also witnessed several cross-border ICT investment closures, showcasing its growth and development.
The Africa Western and Central (AFW) region on the other hand reported investment commitments of $1.2 billion across 21 projects.
Senegal reported the highest level of investment commitments, accounting for almost 27 per cent of the total investment commitments in the region, with five projects worth $316 million.