Kenya’s cabinet has approved a government proposal to sell shares it holds in six listed companies, including a cement maker and the country’s securities exchange, President William Ruto’s office has announced.
The government will offload shares it holds in East African Portland Cement, Nairobi Securities Exchange, HF Group, Stanbic Holdings, Liberty Kenya Holdings and battery maker Eveready East Africa, Ruto’s office said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The government has a direct stake in East African Portland of 25.3 per cent, while the National Social Security Fund owns 27 per cent. The government owns a 3.36 per cent shareholding in Nairobi Securities Exchange, 2.41 per cent in HF Group, 1.1 per cent of Stanbic Holdings, 0.9 per cent of Liberty Kenya Holdings and 17.2 per cent of Eveready.
The move complements government plans to offload shares in other state-owned companies. In November, 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.
- A Reuters report