About the Department

1. Introduction

The Department of Financial and Sectoral Affairs has an overall mandate of overseeing the development of policy, legal and regulatory framework to guide the operations of the Financial Sector that foster stability, efficiency and access to financial services in Kenya. In addition, it is charged with the responsibility of formulation, review, analysis and research on sectoral policies towards addressing our national development goals.

It is the link between the National Treasury and the financial services sector regulators and therefore is the convener for the Financial Services Sector. It is also the link between National Treasury and other sectors of the economy.

The Government's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) recognises the Financial Services Sector as a key enabler in achieving national socio-economic development. BETA focuses on five core pillars: Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Housing and Settlement, Healthcare and Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy. An efficient and inclusive financial sector is essential in supporting these pillars through access to finance, investment mobilisation, and financial stability.

The mandate of the department is to oversee formulation, implementation, monitoring and review of financial services sector policies and support sectoral economic policies and strategies. Specific responsibilities under the Department include:

1. Provide technical support to trade and investment negotiations under regional integration, multilateral and bilateral arrangements.
2. Provide leadership on the negotiations of International Investment Agreements.
3. Coordination of research on financial and sectoral issues to inform policy development.
4. Impact assessment of bilateral and multilateral economic and financial agreements on financial and other sectors.
5. Analysis of financial implication of policies and measures including infrastructure development and governance reforms on socio-economic development.
6. Liaising with all sectors of the economy on matters of financial and sectoral development.
7. Promote financial inclusion through spearheading development and implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
8. Coordination of the implementation of policies on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Counter-Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
9. Formulation of policies on climate and disaster risk finance.
10. Coordination of programmes and projects related to the financial sector, regional integration, and climate finance among others.
11. Coordinate the mobilisation of climate finance from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Bilateral and Multilateral organisations and other sources.
12. Design, coordination and implementation of initiatives geared towards enhancing financing of key economic segments such as MSMEs and other underserved persons/sectors.
13. Spearheading the development, tracking and reporting the progress of the implementation of the Vision 2030 projects in the Financial Services Sector Plan.

2. Administrative Structure of the Department

The Department falls under the Budget, Fiscal and Economic Affairs Directorate and is structured as follows:

3. Role in Vision 2030 Implementation

The Department implements the Vision 2030 Projects under the Financial Services Sector (FSS) Plan. The Projects/Programmes being implemented through the Department are as follows:

• Kenya Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS)
• Rural Kenya Financial Inclusion Facility (RK-FINFA)
• Nairobi International Financial Center (NIFC)
• Payment Ecosystems Interoperability
• Digital Finance
• Green Financing

The Department works closely with financial sector regulators and agencies in the development and implementation of policies, laws and regulations. The regulators include:

4. Notable Achievements

The Department has developed 11 key policies, reports and strategies, and enacted 4 major statutes and regulations that have shaped Kenya's financial services sector — including the NIFC Act, the National Credit Guarantee Policy, and the Virtual Assets Act.

5. Key Ongoing Initiatives

The Department is currently driving 10 active policy and regulatory initiatives — spanning payment systems, insurance, climate resilience, digital finance, and international investment agreements.