Conflicting interests have delayed Kenya Airways’ turnaround plans even as the national carrier’s acting CEO George Kamal exited abruptly after eight months on the job.
Multiple insiders familiar with the airline’s turnaround plans revealed behind-the-scenes intrigues that saw a strategic investment offer scuttled in January 2026 after interest groups demanded that the ‘field be opened to more players’.
At least four firms had expressed interest in KQ, as the airline is popularly known, with proposals including cash injections or providing airplanes in exchange for a strategic equity stake in the airline.
“There was an investment offer around January that was about to be sealed, but some interest groups emerged and started pushing for opening doors for more parties,” a source told Business Daily.
Sources said this tussle prompted the airline to revert to a tender system to recruit a strategic investor, further delaying the turnaround plans.
Consultancy firm KPMG was picked to prepare an investment memorandum to guide the tender, with the KQ board approving the document.
The international tender for a strategic investor is, however, yet to be floated nearly seven months after the earlier investment offer was scuttled.
KQ board chairman Kiprono Kitonny said the tender plans remain on course and denied claims of fallouts over the strategic investment following Mr Kamal’s abrupt exit.
“We are all on the same page. We have the investor memorandum that has been done by KPMG, and now we’re in the process of appointing a transaction advisor,” Mr Kittony told the Business Daily, adding that the open tendering process is the ideal situation since KQ is a publicly listed company.
KQ has been searching for a strategic investor for years, with the latest push coming as the airline grapples with mounting financial pressures and negative equity. The carrier posted a Sh17.2 billion net loss in 2025, reversing a Sh5.4 billion profit a year earlier, while its first-half loss widened further to Sh16.1 billion in 2026.
The plan has also evolved from a search for a single cash investor into a broader exercise that could involve different forms of capital and strategic support.
President William Ruto’s government had previously sought a strategic investor for its 48.9 percent stake in KQ. In December 2022, Dr Ruto met executives of Delta Air Lines in Washington, amid efforts to attract the US carrier as a potential strategic investor. The discussions crumbled as the carrier explored a merger with South African Airways, which also failed to materialise.
Former CEO Allan Kilavuka subsequently continued the search. In August 2024, he said KQ was close to concluding negotiations with a potential investor, although the talks did not result in an investment.
The latest capital target has grown from an initial $500 million (Sh65 billion) to roughly $1.2 billion (Sh155 billion), reflecting the scale of the airline’s balance sheet and fleet requirements. The Treasury has said the strategic investor is expected to provide capital and help strengthen the airline as the government seeks to reduce the burden of supporting the carrier.
Mr Kamal disclosed in March that KQ was already talking to at least four potential strategic investors and was open to bringing in more than one investor rather than relying on a single partner.
In an interview with NTV last week, he said interest had increased after an initial investor emerged in January.
“Up to March, we had only one investor, and we thought that was a single source, but after that investors started to come one after the other,” he said.
This followed the reconstitution of KQ’s board, which saw Mr Kittony appointed chairman and the addition of David Ndii, Chris Diaz and Winnie Nyamute as directors.
Mr Kamal told Business Daily that one of the investors had offered the airline airplanes in exchange for equity, while another was offering cash, and another debt that is convertible to equity. He said the airline was open to all of them.
His abrupt departure now leaves the board to oversee the next stage of a process that KQ says remains on course.
