Housing firm rolls out to the counties

Nairobi; Kenya: Property developer Home Afrika has mooted plans to develop a multi-billion-shilling housing investment aimed at tapping into the county system of government.

The county-focused strategy dubbed ‘Go County’ revolves around investing in the devolved units, which it expects to play a part in the decongestion of major urban areas by developing alternative satellite cities across Kenya.

In the plan, the listed property developer hopes to attract the middle and low-income market segments that it says have largely remained neglected by current market players.

Home Afrika already has three real estate projects in counties outside Nairobi.

It has lined up more investments in other counties. These include Lakeview Heights in Kisumu County, Llango in Kwale County and the multi-billion Migaa project that is under construction in Kiambu County.

Home Afrika Chief Executive Njoroge Ng’ang’a said the three counties will be the first in its ‘Go County’ initiative as it positions itself to tap into the middle-income housing market segment outside the major cities.

“We have formulated our strategy to revolve around the recently formed counties. In line with this, we are looking to assist in decongesting the main cities by creating and supporting development of satellite cities,” he said during a tour of Migaa in Kiambu County last week.

The company plans to float a corporate bond as well as become a Real Estate Investment Trusts manager, as it seeks funds to finance its mega projects.

Middle income

The firm said it is looking to tap into the middle and lower-income housing segments that have been neglected by other market players.

“The greatest need for housing is among the lower and middle-income segments. Most developers have been concentrating on the high end and what we will see is a shift from this to affordable housing where there is a huge gap to be filled,” said Ng’ang’a.

“We feel that Home Afrika is well placed to satisfy this demand. We want to position ourselves to take advantage of that solution.”