Kenya cabinet approves stake sale in six listed companies 

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 said.

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 Portland Cement of 25.3 percent, while the National Social Security Fund owns 27 percent. The government owns a 3.36 percent shareholding in Nairobi Securities Exchange, 2.41 percent in HF Group, 1.1 percent of Stanbic Holdings, 0.9 percent of Liberty Kenya Holdings and 17.2 percent 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.