Investors scramble for a piece of Nanyuki's tourism circuit land

A section of Nanyuki town. [Wainaina Ndung'u, Standard]

What would convince investors to so hungrily go for these plots, even amid uncertainty that is making investors hold back this electioneering period?

"It is always important to invest where the government is investing," says Macharia.

"The government has pumped Sh1.16 billion into Laikipia County for infrastructural development. There will be so many developments coming up water, roads, electricity - all the facilities that these developers need."

In May 2022, Kenya's cabinet approved the Laikipia County government's request to borrow Sh1.16 billion through a domestic infrastructure bond at the stock market. This saw the county become the first since the advent of devolution to float a bond to raise money at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Mr Macharia says a good number of investors are buying huge tracks of land intending to go into the hospitality business. "Cottages, Airbnbs and resorts do well because Nanyuki is a tourist town," he says. "The good hotels in the area that were set up years ago are, and have been, doing really well."

He says that three-quarters - 75 per cent - of buyers want to buy to develop hotels and resorts. The rest are buying intending to speculate, hoping that the eighth-acre plots they are buying for Sh350,000 will give them very high returns after a few years.

"Nanyuki is a cosmopolitan town and buyers who are buying to sell in the future will make very high returns on their investment. The land here is and will always be, appreciating at a high rate," he says.

Charity Njoki, a property strategist at Certified Homes, says the completion of the dualling of the Kenol-Marua road will be a boost to business in Nanyuki, with easier and speedier access to the mountain town.

Certified Homes have also been selling land here at a cash price of Sh349,000 or instalments totalling up to Sh399,000 for 50 by 100 feet plots.

Ms Njoki says the upgrade of the Nanyuki-Nairobi railway line, which was done in December 2020 amid much fanfare, has also opened up Nanyuki, and its immediate environs, to more people and more business.

This translates to a bigger need for accommodation.

Construction works near Nanyuki town. [Boniface Gikandi, Standard]

Ms Njoki also says that many visitors seek to sight some of the other tourist attractions in the region, such as the Aberdare National Park, which is home to famous places such as Queen's caves.

The caves were used as a hideout by some of the Mau Mau during the fight for Kenya's independence and were later visited by the UK's reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth and the Treetops Hotel where, in 1952, she ascended to the throne after her father's death.

"There are other attractions here such as Lolldaiga Hills, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (in Isiolo) and Mt Kenya National Park itself," she says.

She observes that part of the soil in Nanyuki is black cotton, which is suitable for the growth of crops such as wheat, cotton and groundnuts, agriculture is also attractive in Nanyuki. Such soil is rich in calcium carbonate, potash, lime, and magnesium carbonate.

Njoki says the presence of the British Army also boosts the town's security.

The hotels in the town, however, remain Nanyuki's best-selling point, and investors hope for an undisrupted electioneering period so that they can continue to invest in the hospitality industry.

"Many people are considering buying now because after elections if all goes well, the value might rise at a very fast trajectory," says Macharia.