Kenya raised 2.75 billion dollars in its first Eurobonds in 2014. The Auditor-General later reported that the proceeds could not be traced to specific projects, while an audit commissioned by the Treasury found they had been properly received or used. Kenya has since issued more Eurobonds and used several of them to buy back older bonds early, and its IMF programme ended in 2025 without its final review.
Kenya has used new Eurobonds since 2024 to buy back bonds due in 2024, 2027, 2028 and 2032, and the Treasury plans another buyback of up to 500 million dollars this financial year, according to The Star. IMF talks on a new programme had produced no announced agreement in the IMF records reviewed.
Kenya accepted 2 billion dollars after bids of 8.8 billion dollars, Reuters reported, with a five-year tranche at 5.875 percent and a ten-year tranche at 6.875 percent. The Nation, citing the Auditor-General's later audit, put the tranches at 500 million and 1.5 billion dollars.
Net proceeds of about 1.999 billion dollars were received in accounts at JP Morgan Chase and Citibank in New York on 26 June 2014, according to the Auditor-General's 2019 special audit. The Standard said an earlier report by the Auditor-General dated receipt to 24 June 2014.
The Treasury used 604.56 million dollars (Sh53.2 billion) of the proceeds to repay a syndicated loan abroad, the Auditor-General's special audit found. A later Treasury-commissioned audit said the Controller of Budget had authorised the payment but that it was made from a JP Morgan Chase account rather than the Exchequer account.
NationThe StarKenya reopened the bonds and raised 750 million dollars at par plus a premium, for net proceeds of 815.4 million dollars dated 3 December 2014, according to the Auditor-General. This took the face value of the 2014 issues to 2.75 billion dollars.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee directed the Auditor-General to conduct a forensic audit of how the proceeds were used, Capital FM reported in February and May 2016, saying the order came the previous year. Opposition leaders had alleged that the government could not account for Sh140 billion.
In a 2015 report, Auditor-General Edward Ouko said the proceeds were banked in a special Eurobond account at the Central Bank instead of the Exchequer account and that evidence was insufficient to form an opinion on their use, according to The Star and the Nation.
Ouko told the Public Accounts Committee he planned to send officers to meet six banks in June and to submit his report in mid-July, Capital FM reported. The Standard later reported that he appeared to have called off the trip after a rebuke from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Business Daily reported that a fresh audit of the National Exchequer Account by Ouko said investigations into the receipt, accounting and use of the Sh215.5 billion in proceeds were still open.
Kenya closed a 2 billion dollar issue in equal ten-year and 30-year tranches at coupons of 7.25 and 8.25 percent, Business Daily reported. The Standard noted that the Treasury had been unable to provide a list of projects funded by the 2014 issue.
A report by PKF Kenya, commissioned by the Treasury, found sufficient evidence that the proceeds were received into the Consolidated Fund or paid out for authorised purposes, The Star and the Nation reported. The Public Accounts Committee was to assess it.
Ouko's special audit confirmed that the proceeds reached the National Exchequer Accounts but found they could not be linked to specific projects, which the Treasury said was because the funds were fungible. It also found that some spending was processed outside the government's IFMIS system and recommended earmarking future issues.
Kenya raised 2.1 billion dollars in seven-year and 12-year tranches at 7 and 8 percent, Bloomberg and The Star reported. The Star said part of the money would refinance 750 million dollars of the 2014 issue due on 24 June.
The IMF board approved 38-month ECF and EFF arrangements for Kenya worth about 2.34 billion dollars, aimed at reducing debt risks through fiscal consolidation.
The Treasury said a 1 billion dollar 12-year issue drew orders of more than 5.4 billion dollars. Bloomberg reported a yield of 6.3 percent.
Kenya priced a 1.5 billion dollar seven-year bond maturing in 2031 at about 10.375 percent, BondBlox and The Star reported, and offered to buy back the 2 billion dollar bond due in 2024.
Investors tendered 1.48 billion dollars and Kenya accepted up to 1.44 billion dollars at par plus accrued interest, BondBlox reported, with settlement on 21 February.
The IMF board completed the seventh and eighth reviews, releasing about 606 million dollars. It noted that the 2024 Finance Bill had been withdrawn after widespread protests.
The Treasury priced 1.5 billion dollars at 9.5 percent, repayable in 2034, 2035 and 2036, to refinance external debt including a planned buyback of the 900 million dollar bond due in 2027.
Tender results were due on 3 March 2025, the Treasury said. The Star later reported that the buyback of the 2027 bond came to 579 million dollars.
At the end of a mission from 6 to 14 March 2025, IMF staff said Kenya and the IMF had agreed that the ninth review would not go ahead and that Kenya had formally asked for a new programme.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the review was halted because of time constraints and denied a Bloomberg report, citing unnamed sources, that Kenya had abandoned it after missing targets, Reuters reported.
IMF staff led by Haimanot Teferra held talks in Nairobi from 25 September to 9 October 2025 on policies that could be supported by a new programme. The IMF reported no agreement and said discussions would continue at its Annual Meetings.
Kenya raised 1.5 billion dollars in seven-year and 12-year tranches at 7.875 and 8.8 percent, with bids above 7.5 billion dollars, Citizen Digital reported. Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo called it the third such transaction since 2024.
Citizen DigitalKenya accepted all valid tenders, 628.44 million dollars of its 7.25 percent notes due 2028, at 103.75 percent plus interest, leaving 371.6 million dollars outstanding, HapaKenya reported.
Kenya offered to buy back up to 500 million dollars of its 2028 and 2032 notes, conditional on a new dollar bond, HapaKenya reported citing London Stock Exchange filings.
Kenya raised 2.25 billion dollars to fund the buyback and the budget, with 900 million dollars at 7.875 percent due 2034 and 1.35 billion dollars at 8.7 percent due 2039, The Star reported. Business Daily and Citizen Digital reported the same total, though Citizen Digital gave the first coupon as 7.8 percent.
Kenya retired 415.35 million dollars of Eurobonds against its 500 million dollar target, Business Daily reported.
IMF staff led by Haimanot Teferra visited Nairobi from 24 February to 4 March to discuss Kenya's programme request. The IMF announced no agreement and said talks would continue at the Spring Meetings.
A report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu tabled in Parliament said Sh30 billion of the proceeds of a 2025 Eurobond was redirected to cover shortfalls in domestic borrowing, in breach of the subscription agreement, The Star and People Daily reported. Neither outlet reported a Treasury response, and the audit report itself was not reviewed.
The Treasury's latest debt strategy plans to buy back up to 500 million dollars of Eurobonds this financial year, funded by a new dollar bond, The Star reported.
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People Daily · peopledaily.digitalLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.