Kenya has emerged as the second-largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the African continent, with its outstanding debt standing at approximately $4.02 billion, translating to Ksh522.6 billion as of June 27, 2025.

The IMF’s latest data places Kenya just behind Egypt, which leads Africa with an estimated $9.96 billion (about Ksh1.29 trillion) in IMF loans. This underscores the country’s growing reliance on external concessional funding to manage fiscal pressures, often at the cost of its policy sovereignty.

Kenya’s debt stock remained unchanged in the latest IMF reporting period, with no fresh disbursements or repayments recorded. The outstanding figure stems from multiple credit arrangements, including the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), agreed upon in recent years.

However, following the widespread Gen Z-led protests against punitive taxation in 2024, the Kenyan government opted to forgo its ninth and final IMF programme review. As a result, a planned disbursement of $800 million (Sh104 billion) was left unclaimed.

Despite that, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Kamau Thugge revealed in June that Kenya had, in October 2024, applied for a new IMF-supported programme to help roll over the undrawn funds.

An IMF team is currently in Nairobi conducting macroeconomic reviews and governance risk assessments across key sectors including fiscal management, procurement, central bank operations, and the legal system.

In comparison, Zambia, once a top IMF borrower, has now reduced its obligations to about $1.32 billion (Ksh171.6 billion). Other notable African borrowers include:

Ghana: $3.26 billion (Sh423.8 billion), Côte d’Ivoire: $4.13 billion (Sh536.9 billion), Angola: $3.66 billion (about Sh475.8 billion), Ethiopia: $1.88 billion (nearly Sh244.4 billion), Tanzania: $1.34 billion (Sh174.2 billion), Uganda: $1.32 billion (Sh171.6 billion)

Notably, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, currently holds no outstanding credit with the IMF.

Back home, Kenya’s mounting IMF obligations are just one facet of a wider fiscal crisis. Data from the National Treasury shows the country’s total public debt crossed Sh11 trillion by the end of June 2025.

In the 2025/26 financial year, the government aims to raise Sh3.4 trillion in total revenue, of which Sh2.92 trillion is projected from ordinary revenue.

However, with planned spending hitting Sh4.23 trillion, the country is facing a fiscal deficit of Sh786.6 billion, or approximately 4.6% of GDP.

To bridge the gap, the Treasury plans to borrow Sh256 billion externally and another Sh479.6 billion from the domestic market.

A significant portion of external financing is expected to come from the IMF and other development partners, although timelines for future disbursements remain unclear.

While IMF funding offers critical budgetary support and signals investor confidence in Kenya’s economic trajectory, it comes with strings attached.

These include tax reforms, subsidy cuts, and policies aimed at boosting local revenue collection reforms that have increasingly triggered domestic political pushback.

Globally, Argentina remains the IMF’s largest borrower, with a debt of over $53 billion (Sh6.89 trillion), followed by Ukraine and Pakistan.