Kenya to issue first ever road bond in June 2020 worth $1.5billion to fix roads

Kenya to issue first ever road bond in June 2020 worth $1.5billion to fix roads

- Kenya would soon issue its first ever bond as it attempts to raise funds to kick-start a road repair project

- The Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Maringa noted that the funds raised would be used in the settlement of outstanding debts

- He added that the government has given the Kenya Roads Board the permission to borrow from commercial lenders

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Plans are in place to get the road network repaired in Kenya as it issues its first ever road bond worth $1.5 billion.

According to the Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Maringa, the bond would be issued by June 2020 through the Treasury.

He added that a part of the funds would be diverted towards the settlement of pending bills.

Kenya to issue first ever road bond in June 2020 worth $1.5billion to fix roads
Paul Maringa, Infrastructure Principal Secretary of Kenya Source: Business Insider
Source: UGC

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Maringa went on to say that the Kenya Roads Board has received authorization from the government to borrow funds from commercial lenders.

The funds, per a Business Insider report, would be leveraged by annual Parliamentary appropriations under the development budget.

He also noted that it would take 10 years to pay off the current outstanding commitments, which are currently estimated at US $6.4 billion in case no new projects are introduced.

Per the current plan, the balance would be used to finance works from July 1 to September 30, 2020, which would be followed by the issuance of a second bond.

The Treasury, it has been determined, would oversee the timings for the flotation and structure of the second bond.

In other news, there is an ongoing debate about the volume of funds raised by startups in Africa in the year 2019.

This comes in the wake of reports of various sums of monies given in support of businesses of startups in the year.

YEN.com.gh understands that three venture-funding studies carried out to ascertain the true facts led to three different results.

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The tests were done by Disrupt Africa, a media outlet, WeeTracker, a database website and Partech, a global investment firm.

Per a report by Partech, African startups received a total of $2 billion from venture capitalists in the year 2019. WeeTracker fixed the amount at $1.3 million and Disrupt Africa pegged the amount at $496 million.

Techcrunch.com reports that the variance in the figures of $1.5 billion could be traced down to venture capitalist valuations in the selected countries.

Partech and WeeTracker drew the same conclusions with regard to the top three recipients of funds in Africa and named them as Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt, in that order.

Disrupt Africa, however, believes Kenya took the top spot even though its $149 million estimate for the country is about $500 million less than projections by Partech and WeeTracker’s VC leader, Nigeria.

While WeeTracker’s methodology included data on undisclosed startup investments, Disrupt Africa settled on a case-by-case basis.

READ ALSO: Nigeria grows past South Africa to become Africa's biggest economy

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