Kenya has launched initial public offering (IPO) and the first such sale in more than a decade, as the government moves to privatise a majority stake in the state-owned Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) to raise funds for infrastructure development.
The IPO, which opened on January 19 and will close on February 19, involves the sale of a 65% stake in KPC, equivalent to 11.81 billion shares. The offer is expected to raise approximately US $824M from local and international investors, as well as company employees. Once listed, KPC is projected to become the fifth-largest company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange by market capitalization.
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Target
Proceeds from the share sale will go directly to the Kenyan government rather than KPC itself, supporting national infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector. The listing comes as Kenya grapples with rising public debt and continues discussions with the International Monetary Fund for additional financial support following the expiry of a US $3.6 billion IMF programme last year.
KPC operates a 1,342-kilometre pipeline network linking the port city of Mombasa to inland markets, alongside refinery operations, laboratory services and fibre-optic infrastructure. According to its IPO prospectus, the company plans capital expenditure of about US $852M(KSh110 billion) through 2030—nearly three times its investment over the 2021–2025 period. Planned projects include a new Mombasa–Nairobi pipeline, the Eldoret–Malaba–Kampala pipeline, expanded LPG storage in Nairobi, and additional crude oil storage facilities in Mombasa.
The expansion programme will be financed through internally generated cash flows and alternative funding models such as debt capital markets, project financing vehicles, joint ventures and partnerships. KPC expects these investments to support efficiency gains and position the company to benefit from rising fuel demand across East Africa. The firm forecasts an average gross profit margin of about 61% through 2030, up from 57% over the past five years.
However, KPC has flagged regional competition as a key risk. Uganda’s progress on the US $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will export crude via Tanzania, could reduce Kenya’s role as a regional transit hub. Uganda is targeting first oil production from the Albertine Rift Basin in the second half of 2026, led by TotalEnergies and China’s CNOOC.
Uganda also plans to construct a domestic oil refinery by 2029/30. KPC cautioned that such a development could undermine its regional growth strategy, although it maintains that refined fuel imports will remain more cost-competitive in the region over the long term due to scale and margin considerations. The KPC listing forms part of Kenya’s broader agenda to deepen capital markets, attract foreign investment and improve governance and transparency across state-owned enterprises through public ownership.
