Kenya’s new property kings

• Influx of questionable foreign cash distorts real estate market and threatens to push ordinary
  people out of the housing sector
• Money from abroad and Somalia shakes real estate sector, especially in Nairobi

A banker who cannot be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said banks had financed the cost of an estimated 500,000 houses since President Kibaki took over power in 2003.

But he cautioned that with rising inflation, many Kenyans who secured mortgages might start experiencing difficulties servicing their loans.

He suggested that as many as half these houses might be repossessed because of inflation spurred by the global credit crisis.

International security agencies are also said to be concerned about the less-than-transparent acquisition of petrol stations and other businesses.