Kenya cancels power transmission deal with Adani following US bribery charges

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Thursday he had ordered the cancellation of procurement process to expand the country's main airport, in which the government was considering a proposal by Adani Group.

Ruto said he had also directed the cancellation of a more than $700 million deal the energy ministry had signed with a unit of the Adani Group to construct power transmission lines.

""I have directed agencies within the ministry of transport and within the ministry of energy and petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement," Ruto said in his state of the nation address, attributing the decision to "new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations".


This comes after U.S. prosecutors indicted Adani for conspiring with executives of a former New York-listed company to devise a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials and boost their solar energy business.

Adani Group denied the allegations as "baseless", while Indian government officials haven't commented so far.

Adani Energy Solutions in October signed a 30-year, $736 million public-private partnership deal with the Kenya Electrical Transmission Company. A court suspended the contract in the same month.

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What are the main allegations?
U.S. prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani who is director at Adani Green, and six others with alleged bribery and fraud related to renewable energy projects in India that benefitted the tycoon's company and India's Azure Power, which was listed on the NYSE until late 2023.

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In 2020, the unsealed indictment from Wednesday shows, executives of Adani Green and Azure "knowingly and wilfully conspired" and agreed to "corruptly" offer, authorise and pay bribes to government officials in India to "obtain or retain business advantages".

Adani and his executives have also been accused of making false and misleading statements to investors and lenders in the United States regarding the company's anti-bribery commitments and practices while raising money from them.

Between 2021 and 2024, Adani raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds, including from investors in the United States.

"Gautam and Sagar Adani were engaged in the bribery scheme during a September 2021 note offering by Adani Green that raised $750 million, including approximately $175 million from U.S. investors. The Adani Green offering materials included statements about its anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts that were materially false or misleading," the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The Adanis earlier this year made misleading statements to the public, the Indian stock exchange and investors despite being made aware of the U.S. investigation in 2023, the prosecutors alleged.

(With Reuters inputs)