Kenya can’t afford another Telkom experiment

Telkom Kenya, privatized in 2007, has gone through a series of ownership changes from Orange to Helios, full renationalization, and finally to a little-known Emirati entity, Infrastructure Corporation of Africa (ICA). The deal with ICA, announced in October 2023, remains unclosed, leaving the company unable to raise capital or restructure its debt. The Kenyan government spent Sh6 billion without parliamentary approval to buy out Helios' stake. Telkom also manages the National Optical Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) and holds stakes in international undersea cables, making it a strategic national security asset.