President William Ruto has secured new support from Qatar to advance Kenya’s flagship irrigation and infrastructure plans.
The agreement came on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, during talks with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on the sidelines of the Second World Summit for Social Development.
Ruto said Qatar will increase investment in key areas, including agriculture, infrastructure and finance. A major focus will be Kenya’s mega-dam programme, which aims to bring nearly two million acres under irrigation. The President has argued that the plan will help the country reduce its heavy reliance on rain-fed farming and cut food imports.
Ruto has previously outlined the scale of the irrigation push. He told Kenyans in October that his administration plans to build 50 large dams across the country to support food production and export growth.
According to him, the country spends around Ksh500 billion each year to import products such as rice, wheat, sugar and edible oil, and that figure must come down.
“We need to build 50 mega-dams like Thwake so that we can irrigate two million acres,” he said at the time, adding that Kenya has already secured access to major international markets through the AfCFTA, the European Union, the United States under AGOA and China.
The challenge, he noted, is that Kenya is not producing enough to meet demand at home or abroad.
To fund the plan, Ruto has earmarked at least Ksh1.5 trillion for irrigation and plans to create a National Infrastructure Fund to pool capital from the budget, private investors and future privatisation proceeds. He has stressed that irrigation will create jobs for young people and serve as the next engine of economic growth.
Alongside dams, the President wants to increase electricity generation from about 2,300 megawatts to 10,000 megawatts within seven years at a cost of roughly Ksh1 trillion.
He says the extra power is essential for manufacturing and for industrial hubs in Konza, Vipingo, Dongo Kundu and Nakuru. The government will also require about Ksh1.5 trillion for roads, rail and airport upgrades.
Ruto and the Emir also reaffirmed the new Kenya Airways–Qatar Airways partnership to support tourism, trade and travel. They agreed to strengthen diplomatic cooperation, including efforts to help stabilise Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
