Top American investor in Kenya Grant Brooke now wants the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to give President William Ruto more loans.
The World Bank had pledged Sh1.8 trillion loan package to Kenya which is expected to be disbursed over the next three years beginning July 2024.
The Bretton Wood institution said loan will support Kenya’s journey to become an “upper-middle-income country by 2030”.
The package came barely days after IMF approved Sh687 billion loan to bolster country’s reserves before a Eurobond repayment due in June next year.
Brooke, the Co-founder and CEO of Twiga Foods, opposed the move saying the loans will benefit the Eurobond investors at the expense of Kenya which is facing liquidity problems and economic difficulties.
“I’m upset that Eurobond investors have been getting high interest yields on a risk free investment because the IMF and World Bank have effectively back stopped it. Predictable. Average Kenyan the big loser here,” he posted on X.
Brooke, the current CEO of Fintech Firm Shara Inc., said Kenya should not pile more public debt to pay Eurobond investors who made a “bad investment”.
“Kenya isn’t being bailed out by the IMF, Eurobond investors are. They made a bad investment, they should live with it. I think they’ll be ok,” he said.
However, Ruto and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wa have defended the loans saying they showed international lenders have confidence in Kenya Kwanza’s macroeconomic policies.
“These support will help Kenya withstand shocks, accelerate the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda and advance our long-term, robust and inclusive growth,” Ruto said.
By Newshub