Kenya to benefit from low-cost housing plan

Kenya is among nine African countries earmarked by Lafarge, a leading building materials company, for the development of low-cost houses.

Francois Perrot from the Lafarge’s innovation department said Lafarge will help improve the housing conditions of the poor by partnering with local micro-finance companies to come up with products targeted at low-income earners.

“There is a need for affordable housing for those in the lower end of the market who lack the capacity to secure funding from the mainstream financial institutions. We will train the financial institutions so that they can understand the targeted market,” said Perrot, who was recently in Nairobi to attend a workshop to train micro-finance institutions in Africa.

Living conditions

He said the arrangement would see at least two million people improve their living conditions by 2020. In Kenya, the Lafarge programme is currently in the assessment stage.

“There are many institutions in Kenya willing to work with us. We will provide technical assistance to the sector such as low-cost designs and catalogues,” said Perrot.

The firm has success stories around the continent. In Malawi, just like Kenya, brick construction involves heavy wood consumption due to the firing process, resulting in deforestation. However, Lafarge Research Centre has come up with a product known as Durabric, a binder that is mixed with soil to make blocks that do not need firing.

Similar innovations

Similar innovations are also being used in other countries around the world having large informal populations. The initiative has been launched in 15 countries, benefitting 120,000 people.

At one slum in Mumbai, India, the company has developed a slow setting concrete in 15-litre bags that can be delivered by motor rickshaws, enabling people to build more solid homes that are capable of keeping the dreaded monsoon rains at bay.
“Lafarge is handling this process just like its other business products. The African continent has been termed an emerging market where technological innovations are transforming people’s lives. We want to be part of that change,” said Perrot.

Lafarge has a presence in more than 60 countries and is the principal shareholder in Bamburi Cement, Kenya’s largest cement manufacturer.

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