Institute of Public Finance

18/08/2026

📍 | IPF CEO speaks at Private Sector Roundtable

As Kenya prepares to host The Trust Summit: Nairobi Dialogue on Global Trust, we joined Kenya's private sector community to discuss issues and highlight policy solution towards addressing the 'trust deficit'.

IPF looks at trust as the foundation of successful Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Speaking at the event, IPF CEO Daniel Ndirangu underscored that PPPs are not “free money”.

💬 "PPPs are long-term commitments involving capital, risk, returns, service standards and public value."

💬 "With Kenya facing constrained fiscal space and major infrastructure needs, the priority should be smarter partnerships, not greater public borrowing."

🔵 Kenya needs transparent procurement, credible project pipelines, predictable regulation, clear risk allocation and meaningful citizen participation.

💬 "The test is not simply whether PPPs attract private capital, but whether they convert investment into lasting public value and better outcomes for citizens."

The Trust Summit

18/08/2026

14/08/2026

📍 | Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) Workshop in Busia

Our firm belief at IPF is that Women’s Economic Empowerment requires more than access to finance. It requires access to opportunity, markets, policy influence and the knowledge to navigate them.

In Kenya, women’s financial inclusion has grown significantly, reaching 81.7% in 2021, up from 20.5% in 2006. Yet for many women entrepreneurs, particularly those running micro, small and nano enterprises, financial inclusion has not translated into sustainable economic empowerment.

The WEE workshops by IPF and our partner KENYA WOMEN PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION (KEWOPA) are supporting women to navigate and overcome barriers like limited awareness of government empowerment programmes, challenges accessing opportunities under AGPO, high taxation and regulatory burdens, limited market access, and inadequate access to affordable and flexible credit.

In collaboration with elected Members of Parliament, we are strengthening policy intent for WEE moving towards practical interventions that enable women to grow businesses, access opportunities and build resilient livelihoods.

14/08/2026

🗞️ 🔵 Newspaper Round-Up

🔝 This Week’s Top Stories:

📌 Kenya has hit maximum VAT ceiling, warns State think-tank
📌 Economy posts robust growth but leaves Kenyans worse off

https://mailchi.mp/ipfglobal/newspaper-kenya-has-hit-maximum-vat-ceiling-warns-state-think-tank-12778695

14/08/2026

🔵 | GRB Workshop with Laikipia County Officials

Across Kenya, women traders and entrepreneurs often face barriers related to how county revenue systems are designed and administered. IPF is supporting counties to change this. Our technical assistance is helping Laikipia County close these gaps by building revenue policies and administration systems that are gender-responsive, evidence-based and inclusive, so that economic participation is easier for everyone.

🤝 This week, IPF convened a two-day capacity building workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) with Laikipia County Government, bringing together county leadership, revenue officials and gender officers. The focus was to review existing frameworks including the NGEC GRB Guidelines and the PEFA Gender Responsive PFM Framework, and how sex-disaggregated data can shape fairer revenue policy, alongside a review of Laikipia County's Revenue Enhancement Strategy.

🎯 A key highlight is that in FY 2025/26, Laikipia County Revenue Board surpassed its Own Source Revenue target, collecting Ksh 1.365 billion against a target of Ksh 1.35 billion, a 101% achievement and a 10% rise from the previous year. To sustain this revenue growth, the county must implement inclusive measures designed and targeted for all traders, including women.

13/08/2026

🔵 | IPF Signs MoU with Laikipia County Government

The Institute of Public Finance (IPF), led by CEO Daniel Ndirangu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the County Government of Laikipia, formalizing a three-year partnership to strengthen public finance management in the county.

The signing was graced by the CEC for Health Services, Laikipia County, and the CEO of the Laikipia County Revenue Board, alongside IPF's leadership.

This engagement provided an opportunity to lay the foundation for closer collaboration on public finance priorities, including health financing, climate financing, revenue policy, and macro fiscal and debt analysis while reaffirming a shared commitment to building efficient, transparent and well-resourced county systems.

Over the next three years, IPF will work with Laikipia County providing technical support through evidence-based policy research, capacity strengthening and joint initiatives that enhance the county's fiscal resilience and improve service delivery for residents.

10/08/2026

🔵| Africa Must Shape the Next UN Secretary-General Selection, Not Simply Observe It

🌍 At a regional dialogue in Johannesburg, African think tanks, policymakers, and governance experts made the case that Africa must actively shape the next UN Secretary-General selection, not just react to it. IPF's SIGAA programme took part as a strategic policy partner, reinforcing its role in shaping African positions on global governance and multilateral reform.

🤝 Five themes emerged: rebuilding trust through delivery, strengthening Africa's economic agency, becoming a co-creator of global norms, reforming the UN beyond Security Council debates, and holding both global and African institutions accountable.

🔗 Read the full blog here:⤵️
https://ipfglobal.or.ke/africa-must-shape-the-next-un-secretary-general-selection-not-simply-observe-it/

07/08/2026

🔵 | NEWS POST

💬 As discussions on the selection of the next United Nations Secretary-General heighten, African institutions are making a clear case that the continent should not merely react to decisions made elsewhere but should actively shape the future leadership and direction of the multilateral system.

The Institute of Public Finance (IPF) has initiated its flagship program, Strategic Initiatives for Growth and Agency in Africa (SIGAA), which works to strengthen Africa’s strategic capacity to shape global economic, digital, and governance systems for the continent’s equitable and sustainable development.

Ruth Kendagor, Director of Global Partnerships at the Institute of Public Finance, reflects on the African-led conversation on Africa’s voice on the next UN Secretary General.

💬 “Africa is done being a subject of this process and is stepping into it as a shareholder. The five arguments that anchored this dialogue, on trust, economic agency, co-creation, institutional scrutiny and accountability, are not abstract. They are a working brief for the next Secretary-General, and for Africa’s own institutions too.”

Read more: ⤵️

https://ipfglobal.or.ke/africa-must-shape-the-next-un-secretary-general-selection-not-simply-observe-it/

07/08/2026

🗞️ 🔵 Newspaper Round-Up

🔝 This Week’s Top Stories:

📌 Report says Kisumu, Nairobi among worst in use of funds
📌 Public debt to remain above limit until 2028 — Treasury

https://mailchi.mp/ipfglobal/newspaper-report-says-kisumu-nairobi-among-worst-in-use-of-funds-12778620

06/08/2026

🔵| Is Kenya Financing Climate Adaptation at the Scale of Its Commitments Demand?

📊 Kenya's NDC calls for KSh 468.5 billion in adaptation financing yearly, with 10% expected from government. IPF's analysis of the Annual National Shadow Budget finds financing is instead declining and unstable, falling nearly 90% in the ARUD sector and 44% in EPWNR between peak years and FY 2025/26.

🌱 Adaptation spending also leans heavily on external funds, averaging 58% in ARUD and over 80% in EPWNR. As donor-funded programmes close out, financing is contracting rather than scaling to meet long-term resilience needs.

🔗 Read the full blog here:⤵️ https://ipfglobal.or.ke/is-kenya-financing-climate-adaptation-at-the-scale-its-commitments-demand/