Structure and Capital Market Tool
SAIF was structured as a closed-ended unit trust, with units initially listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange's (NSE) Unquoted Securities Platform (USP) in May 2026. The initial capital raise was KES 3.4 billion (approximately USD 26 million), comprising anchor investments from the UK government's MOBILIST programme (USD 9 million equivalent) and domestic institutional investors including Kenyan pension funds. The fund targeted net returns of 3% above long-term Government of Kenya bond yields, positioning infrastructure debt as an attractive alternative to government securities.
By making infrastructure debt investment accessible to all investors for the first time, the listing is creating a new asset class in the Kenyan capital markets and boosting investment in infrastructure crucial to the region's growth. The fund will invest in infrastructure projects across sectors including renewable energy, digital infrastructure, logistics, and electrification. By providing long-term finance in Kenyan shillings, SAIF reduced foreign exchange risk for borrowers and supported long-term investment aligned with Kenya's development priorities.
SAIF's structure and staged listing strategy followed a proven template: the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF), which was established in 2014 and initially listed on Nigeria's FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange. The NIDF raised capital and broadened its investor base through successive issuances before transitioning to the Nigerian Exchange's main board in October 2023.
Background and Market Context
East Africa faces a substantial infrastructure financing gap, estimated at USD 22 billion annually for Kenya alone through 2030. Despite holding approximately KES 2.5 trillion (USD 19–20 billion) in assets, Kenyan pension funds face regulatory constraints that require them to invest primarily in listed products, limiting allocation to productive sectors and concentrating portfolios in government securities. Infrastructure projects have historically relied on foreign-currency financing from DFIs and export credit agencies, creating currency mismatches between project revenues and debt-service obligations. At the same time, commercial banks have been constrained in serving long-term infrastructure financing needs by the short-term nature of their deposit liabilities.
The Spearhead Africa Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) addresses these constraints by creating a permanent capital vehicle that can provide long-tenor financing while offering institutional investors exposure to infrastructure through a listed, regulated structure with transparent pricing, professional management, and governance standards familiar to pension fund trustees.
Development Impact
SAIF tackled a critical gap in East Africa, namely the scarcity of long-tenor infrastructure finance in local currency. By lending in the same currency projects earn and over 15- to 20-year tenors, it removed exchange-rate risk and improved debt service coverage, making capital-intensive projects bankable. The fund also opened a new route for domestic capital. As a listed product suitable for pension funds, it widens the investment options available to local institutions beyond government bonds and a thin equity market, letting savers and policyholders participate in domestic growth assets.
In this demand-side intervention, the anchor investment from MOBILIST was essential to proving the model and lowering perceived risk for domestic investors. With a Kenyan pension community unaccustomed to many asset classes outside government bonds and timid towards first issuances, anchoring by a global public investor provided local institutional players the confidence to invest and become more comfortable with real-economy growth assets. The approach differs from traditional development finance through its explicit focus on listed markets, transparent pricing and governance mechanisms.
SAIF's listed structure also offers a template for how DFIs can deploy catalytic capital more efficiently. Unlike unlisted closed-end funds, where DFI capital often becomes trapped, requiring continuation vehicles or bespoke secondary market sales to exit, SAIF's listed structure gives DFIs a more liquid market through which to recycle capital.