(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Kenya Airways expects to bring in a strategic investor by December 2026 as part of a plan to rebuild its finances after years of losses and state support.
The National Treasury told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament that the airline and the government, which is the majority shareholder, are actively looking for an investor to inject fresh capital into the carrier.
The Treasury said the process is underway and should be completed by the end of 2026. Once an agreement is reached, the necessary approvals will be sought and an update will be given to Parliament.
The government holds a 48.9 percent stake in Kenya Airways, a company listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The airline has relied on repeated taxpayer bailouts to continue operating.
The Treasury was responding to a recommendation from the Public Accounts Committee. The committee had asked the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury to prepare and submit to Parliament a detailed debt management and exit strategy for Kenya Airways within three months of the adoption of its report.
That report covered the accounts of the national government for the financial year ending June 2023. The National Assembly adopted it on March 3, 2026.
Kenya Airways management said in June that it wanted to raise at least 1.5 billion US dollars, or about 194.4 billion Kenyan shillings and 1.18 billion British pounds, from a strategic investor. The airline said an international tender would open in the months that followed.
At that time, the airline said the capital raising exercise was expected to finish by the first quarter of 2027. Fresh funding was needed to support operations weighed down by years of losses and a heavy debt load.
The government was expected to back the capital raise as a way to give confidence to possible investors.
Some institutions, including Parliament and the International Monetary Fund, have criticised the government for continuing to support Kenya Airways. They have warned that the airline is a major fiscal risk for a country already facing debt pressures.
The IMF has pushed for the airline to find a strategic investor to bring stability to the company and allow the government to reduce its involvement.
The Treasury said in February that it would offer the carrier to foreign investors in a deal valued at 259.3 billion Kenyan shillings, or about 2 billion US dollars and 1.58 billion British pounds. Other assets would be attached to make the transaction more attractive because the airline is operating with negative equity.
The government is also expected to meet any urgent financial needs at the airline through 2026 while the search for an investor continues.
The government has told the IMF that it would stop providing direct cash injections to the airline once a new investor is secured.
Kenya Airways said the government had promised to help it meet financial obligations that may come up during the year. That signals a continued burden on taxpayers as the national carrier remains in operation.
The airline’s equity position worsened to a negative 132 billion Kenyan shillings last year from a negative 118.2 billion Kenyan shillings the year before. That is about 1.02 billion US dollars and 800 million British pounds, compared with about 912 million US dollars and 716 million British pounds.
Total liabilities stood at 315.2 billion Kenyan shillings against assets of 183.2 billion Kenyan shillings. That means shareholders would recover nothing if the airline were liquidated.