Kenya’s Ksh1.3T investment dream derails as Kuria exits
By Noel Wandera, July 17, 2025When Moses Kuria, then Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Investment and Industry, announced in January 2023 that he would attract Ksh1.3 trillion in foreign direct investment (FDI) and privatise three State-owned enterprises (SOEs) by June of that year, it was one of the most ambitious economic promises of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“I expect to raise $10 billion from the current paltry $500 million. In fact, I may surpass my target. By the end of the financial year in June, I will have privatised three SOEs,” he confidently stated in a televised interview.
But as mid-2025 knocks, that bold vision has unravelled. Kenya’s FDI performance has fallen drastically short, and Kuria has since exited public service.
His investment agenda, once hyped as a game-changer, has fizzled out, derailed by political reshuffles, bureaucratic lethargy, and shifting priorities.
According to World Bank data, Kenya attracted just Ksh26.7 billion in net FDI in 2023, the lowest in two decades.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) pegged total inflows at around Ksh197 billion, far below Kuria’s Ksh1.3 trillion goal.
Meanwhile, none of the SOEs that Kuria earmarked for privatisation, including Kenya Pipeline Company, National Oil Corporation, or Kenya Ports Authority, have been divested.
Kuria’s grand plans were also undercut by scandals and controversies that marred his tenure. His ministry was rocked by revelations surrounding the subsidised cooking oil scheme, initially intended to lower household costs.
The programme, announced with fanfare, was later quietly shelved amid procurement irregularities and questions over the identity of the companies involved.
Investigations never conclusively assigned blame, but the political fallout was damaging.
In parallel, Kuria’s much-publicised oil supply framework with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, meant to reduce pressure on Kenya’s dollar reserves, faced backlash.
Critics accused the government of opaquely entering deals that distorted the forex market and benefited a handful of importers.
The lack of parliamentary oversight and transparency raised alarm among economists and legislators.
High-profile tours
Despite the controversies, Kuria aggressively pursued international investor outreach.
He embarked on high-profile tours to South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United States, projecting Kenya as a prime destination for capital.
His social media pages brimmed with photos of delegation meetings and signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs).
Beyond symbolic gestures, few tangible outcomes materialised. Key agreements lacked follow-through, as Kenya’s pitch got lost in transition when leadership changed, and the reform urgency cooled.
In October 2023, President William Ruto reassigned Kuria from the Trade docket to the less influential Ministry of Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Management.
Though later appointed Presidential Advisor on Government Performance, Kuria no longer had an executive role.
By early 2025, he had resigned from public service altogether, citing frustrations with systemic inertia.
Without a political champion, Kuria’s investment and privatisation blueprint faded into obscurity.
Authority over these areas reverted to the National Treasury and Trade Ministry, both of which have since experienced their own upheavals.
Rebecca Miano, who succeeded Kuria at Trade, was later moved to Tourism, while National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u was shown the door.
With such instability, institutional continuity has proven elusive.
Analysts say Kuria’s exit exposes the deeper structural problem facing Kenya’s economic reform agenda: its overreliance on personalities rather than resilient systems.
“You cannot build investor confidence when economic reforms are constantly interrupted by political reshuffles,” said a Nairobi-based economist involved in FDI negotiations.
“Investors want predictability, not personality politics.” Even the revamped Privatisation Act, 2023, intended to speed up divestitures, delivered little.