President William Ruto dismissed claims that his state visit to China risks sinking the country into a debt trap.

Speaking on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, during the installation of the chancellor of the Co-operative University of Kenya, Ruto noted that some people were spreading misinformation that his China trip was to secure more loans for key infrastructural projects.

However, Ruto dismissed the claims, insisting that the major deals sealed during the visit to China were through public-private partnership (PPP) investment.

The head of state explained that the planned construction of the Rironi-Malaba Highway would be financed through PPP. He hinted that the highway would be tolled once complete.

He further added that the same model would be used in the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway to Uganda.

“When I was in China, many people thought William Ruto had gone to negotiate for more loans. Listen to me and listen to me carefully. The road you saw listed from Rironi all the way to Malaba through Nakuru is not going to be built using loans to the government of Kenya. It is going to be built using a toll infrastructure – Public Private Partnership investment, that it what is going to build that road,” Ruto stated.

“The railway you saw put in the framework that we negotiated in China from Naivasha all the way to Uganda is also not going to be built not by loans to the government of Kenya, but by investments,” he added.

He added that the same model would be explored to build hostels and other projects in the country.

Kenya’s debt repayment

China stands among the biggest lenders to Kenya through infrastructural investments. Recently, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi explained that Kenya has performed exceptionally well in servicing its debt.

Speaking to the media at the sidelines of the IMF meeting in the US, Mbadi stated that China had ranked Kenya among the best-performing African nations in terms of debt repayment. Owing to this performance, he added, China has expressed a willingness to support Kenya’s liability management efforts.

“What we are discussing largely is how we have performed in terms of paying our debt, which China agrees Kenya has done exceptionally well, better than any other country in the region. Kenya is the only country that has managed to service its debts to China without any default or signs of possible default,” Mbadi said.

By January 2025, Kenya’s debt had hit Ksh11.02 trillion. Mbadi said the debt comprised Ksh5.93 trillion in domestic and Ksh5.09 trillion in foreign debt.