How the housing agenda grows Kenyan economy through SMEs

Affordable housing project located at Mukuru in Nairobi that was inspected by president William Ruto on October 03, 2022. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

The National Development Plan in the Vision 2030 Strategy targets provision of 200,000 housing units annually for all income levels. With only 50,000 new housing units supplied every year, Kenya faces a shortage of about two million housing units.

Most housing units are by the private sector with 80 per cent targeting the high-end market and only two per cent for the middle-income populations. Three-quarters of the young population is estimated at 45 million, under 35 years. Coupled with rapid urbanisation, at an annual rate of 4.3 per cent in 2021, it has put pressure on the need for housing, infrastructure, and related amenities with 61 per cent of urban households living in slums.