Capital market stakeholders, coastal counties and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are in a race against time to structure and market the country’s inaugural blue bond before the close of 2026.
A blue bond refers to specialised debt instrument raised by either a corporate or government with the proceeds dedicated to financing of marine, ocean-based and coastal resilience-based projects.
According to officials of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the planned issuance will be the first of a multi-tranche series whose aggregate ticket size for capital raise stands at $300 million (Sh38.83 billion) under the Kenya Go Blue Green Bond Programme. The bonds are to be denominated in Kenya shillings.
“The transaction is being developed around bankable blue economy projects involving coastal counties, Kenya Ports Authority and related value chains,” NSE’s chief officer in charge of Strategy, Risk and Compliance Irungu Waggema said on the sidelines of the ongoing Our Ocean Conference taking place in Mombasa.
“The final structure is still under consideration but the likely approach is a phased issuance aligned to project readiness and investor appetite.” Capital markets players are keen to have the debut blue bond go to market before the close of 2026, allowing it to ride on the recent wave of corporate debt issuances which have seen Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) raise Sh3 billion through an eight-year sustainability linked bond priced at 12.2 percent which attracted bids worth Sh9.38 billion.
In November 2025, Safaricom Plc also issued a similar instrument which raised Sh20 billion after attracting bids worth Sh41.6 billion for a five-year debt instrument priced at 10.4 percent.
“The tenor of the issuance will ultimately be determined by the underlying projects and investor feedback, but we are anticipating medium to long-term capital consistent with infrastructure and sustainability financing requirements,” Waggema says.
“The immediate focus is on project preparation, investor engagement, transaction structuring and anchor investor mobilisation. We are looking forward to closing this because it makes a great opportunity both for Kenyan and international investors.”
Through this, Kenya will be looking join Seychelles, Namibia and Gabon as the countries in Africa which have had issuance of blue bonds.
Seychelles issued the world’s first sovereign blue bond in 2018 raising $15 million (Sh1.9 billion) in a transaction that was backed by a guarantee from the World Bank and targeted at improving the economy’s fisheries management and providing support for the ocean economy.
Namibia’s Kelp Blue raised $20 million (Sh2.6 billion) in 2024 marking Africa’s first corporate blue bond with the proceeds earmarked for the financing of the expansion of forests along the country’s coastline.
