President William Ruto said Kenya’s cabinet has approved a government proposal to sell shares it holds in six listed companies.
Reports have it that the companies includes, a cement maker and the country’s securities exchange.
According to the office of the president in a statement on Tuesday, it said the government will offload shares it holds in East African Portland Cement (PORT.NR), Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE.NR), HF Group (HFCK.NR), Stanbic Holdings (SBIC.NR), Liberty Kenya Holdings (LBTY.NR), and battery maker Eveready East Africa (EVRD.NR).
It added that the government has a direct stake in East African Portland of 25.3%, while the National Social Security Fund owns 27%.
The government owns a 3.36% shareholding in the Nairobi Securities Exchange, 2.41% in HF Group, 1.1% of Stanbic Holdings, 0.9% of Liberty Kenya Holdings and 17.2% of Eveready.
According to the statement, the move is to complement government plans to offload shares in other state-owned companies.
Recall that in November 2023, Ruto said the government planned to privatise 35 state companies after enacting a law in October to guide the process.
However, that plan ran into hurdles in December last year after an opposition party went to court to challenge it, saying some of the companies to be sold were of strategic national interest and should only be sold after citizens approved it.
