President William Ruto has pledged to further strengthen Kenya’s relationship with the World Bank as part of renewed efforts to revitalize the country’s economy.

This follows the Head of State’s meeting with Axel van Trotsenburg, the Senior Managing Director of the World Bank responsible for Development Policy and Partnerships.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Italy- Africa Summit in Rome on Monday, January 29.

“Kenya acknowledges the World Bank’s contributions to supporting our development aspirations. We are committed to further deepening this partnership to enhance our economic growth and expand opportunities for the people,” President Ruto said after the meeting.

The duo also discussed, among other issues, the forthcoming IDA21 Replenishment Summit to be hosted by Kenya this year.

$12 billion support

In November last year, the World Bank said it was committed to supporting Kenya’s journey of becoming a middle-income by 2030.

At the same time, the institution said it foresaw $12 billion in support for Kenya over the next three years, which local authorities believe is a major boost to Kenya’s strained coffers.

However, the World Bank, noted that the total amount was subject to the approval of its executive directors and other factors that could influence its lending capacity.

“The World Bank is fully committed to support Kenya in its journey to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030,” the institution said in a statement on November 20, 2023.

“Subject to the World Bank Executive Directors approval of new operations, and to factors which may affect the bank’s lending capacity, this implies a total financial package of $12 billion (about Ksh1.9 trillion in the current exchange rate) over the three years.”

In December last year, the institution announced that it had advanced Ksh38.4 billion ($250 million) to Kenya to strengthen transparency in public finance management and improve revenue mobilisation.

“The government of Kenya needs higher revenue mobilisation to operationalise its development agenda, while efficiency in spending will be necessary for the revenue that is mobilised to deliver its intended purpose,” World Bank Country Director for Kenya Keith Hansen said.

“This new programme will incentivise the last mile of a decade of public finance management reforms in Kenya, including their full rollout across national government ministries, departments, and agencies.”