Ripe rice field with green rows between golden paddy

Investment opportunity

A 30 year PPP open to founding partners.

A commercial investment vehicle structured under Kenya's Public-Private Partnership guidelines. Iconium is the lead partner, and early partners help shape the terms.

The offer

Phase 1 · 4,400 haPolder 1, the ready estate: perimeter dykes, main supply canals and primary drainage already in place

Expansion · 7,600 haPolders 2 & 3, at 3,800 ha each. Undeveloped land held in the same concession, not yet in production

30 yrsinitial leasehold term, with renewal reviewed by a joint committee

Blendedfinance: GoK, PPP, debt and equity

What is live today. Phase 1 is the operating estate, and it is the part of this project with water control and infrastructure behind it. The 12,000-hectare total and the 70,000-tonne annual output figure describe the estate at full scale once Polders 2 and 3 are developed. Investors are being asked to fund the first phase and to shape the terms of the later ones.

PPP framework

Public land and river rights. Private capital and operations.

Land concession

TARDA grants an initial 30-year leasehold over the 12,000-hectare TDIP estate, with a joint renewal committee able to extend the term. The 30-year horizon is what Kenyan PPP guidelines require and is long enough to amortise irrigation infrastructure and return a return on invested capital.

Who provides what

The public partner provides the land, river intake rights and existing infrastructure. Iconium deploys capital and runs farming, technology integration and off-take processing.

Revenue streams

Packaged milled rice; rice bran and husk co-products (bio-char, animal feed); seed multiplication; and mechanisation service fees.

Capital allocation

A blended-finance structure built for risk-adjusted returns.

30%Development finance and concessional loans: flood-protection dykes, primary canals and community amenities.

50%Commercial equity and debt: electric equipment, seed processing plants, automated grain dryers and a 10-tonne-per-hour rice mill.

20%Impact and carbon capital: renewable microgrids, carbon credit certification and outgrower capacity-building.

Co-investment

Three operating subsidiaries, open to co-investors.

OpCo — Farming & mechanisation

Direct equity in crop production, land preparation and harvesting across Polders 1, 2 and 3.

InfraCo — Energy & water

Yield-based asset financing for solar microgrids, water pumping infrastructure and electric fleet leasing.

Agro-Processing Co

Capital for post-harvest drying, automated milling, packaging and national retail distribution.

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Government backing

A state-corporation counterparty, commissioned by the President.

TARDA was established in 1974 by an Act of Parliament (CAP 443). It plans and coordinates development across the Tana and Athi basins, which cover a quarter of Kenya's land area.

31,000 haofficial footprint of the wider TDIP programme: 26,000 ha in Tana River and 5,000 ha in Lamu, with the intake at Sailoni. The 12,000 ha Iconium concession sits within it.11,000 MTof white rice targeted from Phase I's 2,000 ha, according to TARDA's project record.50,000 jobsdirect and indirect jobs across the wider TDIP programme, per TARDA's benefit case, plus restored water supply for 8 villages (1,662 households). The Iconium-led 12,000 ha project targets 3,300+ direct jobs.

TARDA highlights the project's commissioning by President Ruto and the ongoing construction of the Kitere Channel as signs of top-level commitment.