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Recently, a Turkish investor announced that it was seeking to partner with governments and the private sector to provide decent, low-cost housing units across East Africa.
Elsek-Elsek Construction Limited Housing, which has set up its base in Kenya, is coming up with a new technology that would ensure houses are made affordable and available in a short amount of time. The firm has been spearheading a new technology that uses prefabricated building techniques using fibre cement and galvanised steel.
“We are eyeing the larger East African market and hope to make a mark by providing decent and affordable housing for the masses,’’ said Elsek-Elsek chief executive officer Osman Erdinc Elsek.
The new technology uses walls made of fibre cement boards that are bullet proof up to 9mm and fire proof up to 800°C.
The walls are made of cement, stone and glue chemicals for strength and the windows are double glazed for high insulation.
Several clients have already been lined up at the company’s Miritini factory near Mombasa to place orders for prefabricated houses. The company has signed an agreement to construct Rwanda’s premier Tourism University College in Kigali and has also won a tender to build the Spanish Consulate in South Sudan.
At the same time, urban development financier Shelter Afrique has said it plans to invest US$80 million in East Africa this year to cater for the rising demand for housing from middle-income buyers.
In March 2012, Shelter Afrique chief executive officer Alassane Ba signed a loan agreement worth $40 million with Tanzania’s state-run National Housing Corp to build homes in that country. The company also plans to invest $10 million in low-cost housing in Rwanda and $30 million in equity stakes with property developers in Kenya, the region’s largest economy.
“The target market for the funds will be the middle income segment where demand for housing is insatiable,” Ba said.
Jointly owned by 42 African governments, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African ReInsurance Corporation, Shelter Afrique sources most of its hard currencies from the international capital market.
It has extended about $124 million in credit to private developers in Kenya’s real estate market since its inception 17 years ago. As the market for housing generates more and more interest from outside the region, there have even been reports that the Chinese government has started negotiations that could see it buy a significant stake in the company.
Mwangi Mumero
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