Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria set to share Sh27bn housing fund

What you need to know:

  • CITIC construction is wholly -owned subsidiary of CITIC Group, the largest conglomerate of China that was ranked 160 out of 500 Global Fortune firms last year and had total assets of $760 billion by December, last year.
  • IFC will work with financial institutions to support mortgages and housing finance will allow people to purchase the units,” said IFC director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mr Oumar Seydi.

Kenya is among three Africa countries that are set to benefit from a Sh27 billion fund launched Thursday to finance housing development.

The fund was launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private lending arm of the World Bank and the Chinese multinational construction and engineering firm CITIC, which is eyeing construction of over 30,000 units in the next five years. Nigeria and Rwanda are the other two beneficiaries.

Under the deal, CITICC (Africa) Holding Ltd will develop houses targeting the middle class through partnership with local developers.

CITIC construction is wholly -owned subsidiary of CITIC Group, the largest conglomerate of China that was ranked 160 out of 500 Global Fortune firms last year and had total assets of $760 billion by December, last year.

“As sub-Saharan Africa become more urbanised, the private sector will play a great role in assisting the governments in transforming Africa’s housing markets by providing high quality, affordable houses, creating jobs and demonstrating the viability of the sector to local developers.

IFC will work with financial institutions to support mortgages and housing finance will allow people to purchase the units,” said IFC director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mr Oumar Seydi.

GREEN BUILDING

The two institutions did not, however, say how many of the units will be developed in Kenya. The housing units will be constructed according to the IFC’s green building standards, delivering homes that are friendly to the environment.

Mr Seydi said Kenya was experiencing a shortage of two million units and Nigeria 17 million adding that the problem was likely to persists into the future as urbanisation continues to gather momentum.