May 14, 2018
From the article:
Kenya has become the latest country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the China-led financier established to fund infrastructure projects along with schemes in energy, transportation, agriculture, telecommunications, and more.
The East African nation joins two African states, namely Egypt and Ethiopia, along with a total of 86 others from six continents who have enlisted with the financial institution since it commenced operations in Jan. 2016. Kenya is yet to disclose its intentions for joining AIIB or how much capital it plans to inject as part of its required shareholding installment. But the move could be seen as part of the Kenyan government’s efforts to expand its financing options as it commits to upgrading its infrastructural network.
Joining the AIIB is also only practical, given the lender’s rise as a global institution aimed at rivaling Bretton Woods Institutions, namely the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. From the onset, AIIB was reportedly set to offer loans to emerging economies with fewer strings attached, and by dropping the conditionality on deregulation, privatization, and reforms that come with aid from the West.