Rationalise housing, land markets to unlock wealth

This week President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a campaign to upgrade informal settlements around Nairobi by providing public services like hospitals, accessible roads and drainage. This is commendable.

The fact of the matter is that about 60 per cent of Nairobians live in estates that easily pass for slums. Only a small sliver of the city actually passes the “formal settlement” test. And even in the so-called leafy suburbs a recent upsurge in construction is increasingly overwhelming the old existing infrastructure – including roads, water and sanitation.