The government of Kenya has secured a commitment
from China and Qatar to construct over 300,000 affordable housing units in
Kenya as part of the government’s Big Four Agenda spearheaded by President
Uhuru Kenyatta.
James Macharia, Transport, and Infrastructure
Cabinet Secretary said
that the Chinese multinational will construct 100,000 units while two Qatari
firms will construct 200,000 units.
“The government is in talks with the investors and
the investment will go a long way towards achieving the Big Four Agenda on
housing which aims to construct 500,000 affordable houses across the country by
2022,” said Mr. Macharia.
According to the Big four agenda plan, the housing
units will be divided into a social housing costing a maximum of US $6,000, a
bedsitter housing plan costing a maximum of US $8000, a 2-bedroomed for US
$10,000 and a 3-bedroomed for US $20,000. Currently, due to financing
regulatory hurdles, 50,000 units out of the 250,000 demanded housing units are
being developed annually. The project according to Macharia will dependent
heavily on domestic resources mobilization.
Macharia also urged Chinese investors to dedicate more resources to Africa when he attended the Beijing Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. “We will continue working with China together with our neighbours to implement seamless infrastructure projects that will improve the lives of our people,” added the Minister. https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/07/kenya-secures-commitment-to-construct-300000-affordable-housing-units/
