Britam Asset managers have welcomed the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, which the government intends to establish using profits from natural resources including gas, oil and minerals.

The investment group said such a fund will be beneficiary especially with crude oil production expected to commence in 2022.

 Britam Asset Managers chairman Kenneth Kanui said the wealth fund can also be used to stabilize government revenue, bridge Kenya’s current infrastructure debt and improve Kenyans saving culture.

The move to have all legal and structural mechanisms in place, before expected revenues from crude oil and minerals begin to come in, should result in more effective and efficient use of resources,” he said.

Kenya currently relies on diaspora inflows and export receipts especially in tourism and horticulture have helped maintain the shilling over the past few years.

“As the assets in held in the Sovereign Wealth Fund will be denominated in foreign currency, the fund is also expected to result in in stability of the Kenyan Shilling,” Britam Asset Managers chief investment officer James Mose said.

The firm is currently managing assets worth Sh158 billion for a diverse set of institutional and retail clients.