Dr. James Mworia has been appointed founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), effective 7 September 2026. This appointment places Mworia, one of Kenya’s most experienced investment executives, at the helm of the State-backed institution as it begins building its operations and investment pipeline. 

Mworia. He moves into the role from his position as an independent board director, to which Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi appointed him in July 2026. 

As founding CEO, Mworia will establish NIF’s organisational structures, systems, and governance frameworks; develop a bankable pipeline of major public infrastructure projects; and mobilise private co-investment capital to reduce the Government’s reliance on commercial borrowing. 

His appointment comes at a strategic juncture for Kenya’s infrastructure financing model. The fund is mandated to catalyse nearly KSh5 trillion ($38.6 billion) in private and institutional co-investment over the next decade. 

Mworia brings 17 years of experience leading Centum Investment Company PLC, where he served as Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from 2008 to 2026. He joined Centum in 2001 in an entry-level clerical role and rose to become one of Kenya’s youngest CEOs of a listed company at the age of 30. 

During his tenure, Centum’s shareholder funds grew eleven-fold without additional equity being raised at the holding-company level. Under his leadership, the investment company expanded its portfolio across real estate, financial services, manufacturing, energy and education. 

Mworia was selected following a competitive recruitment process conducted by the NIF Board. The move to NIF also draws on his wider experience in investment management, capital allocation, deal structuring, capital markets and business transformation. He has served as Chancellor of Machakos University and held directorships at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and Sidian Bank. 

Mworia’s professional background is supported by qualifications spanning law, finance and accounting. He attended Alliance High School before earning a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-K), a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Machakos University also awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration in recognition of his contribution to higher education and business leadership. 

At NIF, his immediate challenge will be to translate the fund’s mandate into investable projects and mobilise the private capital required to finance them. His experience in structuring investments and deploying capital positions him to develop blended-finance models and help derisk large-scale projects across sectors including energy, transport, ICT and water infrastructure. 

The appointment therefore places NIF at the intersection of public infrastructure needs and private capital mobilisation. Mworia is expected to build the institutional platform through which the Government seeks to finance major projects while limiting further reliance on commercial borrowing.