The cabinet has approved the sale of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), in a move that will see the company's shares listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
The approval made during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 29, continues the privatisation process that President William Ruto's government has been adamant is necessary to reduce the state's budgetary allocation to the corporations.
According to the dispatch, the privatisation of KPC will enable "the private sector and industry experts to drive growth, efficiency, and innovation."
Effectively, some of the government shares in KPC are now set to be sold to private investors, and the company will be listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), where Kenyans can buy shares and become part-owners of the lucrative company.
“The decision reflects the government’s policy shift toward reducing its role in doing business and instead enabling the private sector and industry experts to drive growth, efficiency, and innovation,” the dispatch read.
According to the dispatch, privatisation of KPC was a crucial step in ensuring the company reached its full potential. Despite the company generally being profitable, the cabinet noted that government control tended to stifle maximum performance.
“Bringing in private capital and professional expertise is expected to inject new energy into the company, modernise operations, and position KPC as a regional logistics and energy powerhouse,” the dispatch went on.
To emphasise the need for privatisation, the cabinet cited previous cases, including the partial privatisation of KenGen, which transformed the company into a highly profitable business that expanded regionally.
On July 23, President William Ruto hinted that privatisation of KPC was on the horizon after revealing that the government was planning to list the company’s shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange by September 2025.
The President explained that letting the public invest in KPC would help the company raise funds for regional expansion and diversification into products like LPG.
Besides the KPC, the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Rivatex East Africa, the National Oil Corporation (NOC), and the new Kenya Cooperative Creameries (NKCC) are other entities set to undergo privatisation in the near future.
In addition to the KPC divestiture, the cabinet also approved Phase III of the Last Mile Connectivity Project, which will provide 180,500 new electricity connections for households.
