KCB Group and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have pumped a combined Ksh 103 billion (approximately US$800 million in funding for the Vipingo Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kilifi County, Kenya.
The agreement, entered as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is aimed at providing financial and trade facilitation support to investors operating in the SEZ.
Afriximbank will contribute $500 million of the total, while KCB Group will contribute $300 million to the initiatives.
Afreximbank’s contribution is part of its larger US$3 billion Country Programme to Kenya, which also supports other major industrial parks in Naivasha and Dongo Kundu. The pan-African multilateral development bank has already disbursed US$40 million to support the development of the Vipingo Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The agreement was announced during the Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP), a forum where business leaders met to discuss how to position Kenya as a premier investment hub.
“Afreximbank’s mandate is to promote and expand African trade, and this partnership with KCB is a concrete demonstration of that commitment. Special Economic Zones are powerful engines for industrialization, export growth, and economic diversification,” noted Ms. Oluranti Doherty, Afreximbank’s Managing Director.
Through a strategic combination of resources, expertise, and networks, Afreximbank and KCB will offer local and international investors tailored financial solutions such as working capital facilities, trade financing, guarantees, project preparation facilities, and advisory support.
The Vipingo SEZ, a flagship project under Kenya’s Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA), is a 2,000-acre industrial hub being developed by Centum Investment Company Plc in partnership with Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP).
The project is expected to attract over $3 billion (KSh 390 billion) in total investments and create more than 35,000 direct jobs, with thousands more indirect opportunities.
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