| Company | Dhamana Guarantee Company |
| Sector | Multi-sector |
| Country | Kenya |
| Total Project Cost | USD 134.8m |
| PIDG Commitment |
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| Dates of PIDG involvement |
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Kenya’s capital market is recognised as among East Africa’s more sophisticated, and the country holds significant wealth in pension, life insurance and private wealth funds. However, Kenyan infrastructure projects are largely reliant on US dollar denominated bank loans to finance their development, loans which seldom offer the length of tenor required for successful infrastructure developments and which expose borrowers to currency exchange risk. Strengthening local capital markets will be key to building the necessary investor confidence to ensure that vital infrastructure projects have access to domestic institutional finance.
The Dhamana Guarantee Company was set-up by PIDG in 2021 under its Credit Enhancement Facility initiative to connect significant untapped pools of domestic institutional capital in East Africa with the real economy, such as new green infrastructure and providers of credit to individuals and businesses. This increases access and the affordability of local capital, providing new low-risk opportunities for local investors. It also serves to provide a portfolio of businesses with access to the local currency capital needed to deliver bankable projects, meeting the high demand for financial inclusion, new affordable housing, transportation, water, and energy infrastructure and promoting long-term economic development.
In 2026, PIDG’s guarantee solution backed Dhamana’s Contingent Capital Facility with a USD 20 million guarantee. The facility supports Dhamana’s growth and profitability by enabling it to expand its capital base and increase the size and quantum of guarantees it can issue.
Establishing a credit enhancement facility (CEF) such as Dhamana Guarantee Company, to issue local currency credit guarantees for infrastructure-related debt instruments, will improve capital market efficiency through significantly increased flow of local currency investment into infrastructure projects and climate-aligned businesses in Kenya, meeting unmet demand.
Expected to mobilise more than USD 100m of domestic capital into infrastructure in Kenya. Dhamana’s first guarantee serves to mitigate credit risk, demonstrating the company’s role in enabling Kenyan financial institutions to participate in sustainable infrastructure projects.
Expected impact will be monitored as the business provides guarantees. The largest impact is expected for consumers and businesses that are highly dependent on infrastructure for their operations.
PIDG provided USD 60,000 of technical assistance to cover transaction and legal costs, a returnable grant of USD 100,000 to fund early start operational costs, and USD 28,000 for capacity building with Dhamana.
Dhamana issued its first local-currency guarantee in November 2025, supporting the hybridisation and solarisation of telecoms infrastructure to drive down emissions. Dhamana will only pursue Paris-aligned projects and will conduct climate resilience assessments for all new transactions.
PIDG will support Dhamana to develop and operationalise its Health, Safety, Environmental and Social (HSES) Management System, focusing on HSES governance and capacity, HSES processes for risk assessment and management, and portfolio HSES performance monitoring.
