Industry Highlights – Week Ending 27.04.2025
Real Estate Sector
The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) is enhancing affordable home ownership through a new strategic plan focused on financial growth and sustainability through opening up for more participating primary lenders.
Source: The Business Daily
Kenya National Hospital (KNH) is eyeing a new revenue stream from 2,500 housing units it plans to construct to accommodate staff at a fee.
Source: The Business Daily
Gulf Cap Investments Bank and real estate equity firm Heri Investments have partnered in a Ksh.1.2 billion deal to expand Nova Pioneer schools’ footprint in Kenya through a Sharia-compliant financing structure.
Source: The Star Newspaper
Kenya and China have agreed on a financing arrangement to construct a new headquarters for Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Nairobi, aiming to strengthen diplomatic ties and enhance Kenya’s government infrastructure to match the demands of a global diplomatic hub.
Source: The Star Newspaper
The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) has flagged lengthy title deed processing as a major bottleneck in providing affordable housing loans. The company highlights that it takes prospective homeowners approximately six months to secure title deeds for KMRC-offered mortgages.
Source: The Business Daily
The Supreme Court has recently delivered a landmark ruling on a land dispute in Ngara, Nairobi. The decision is expected to save many individuals with pending applications for the extension of leases on government-owned land.
Infrastructural Development
- Standard Gauge Railway Naivasha to Malaba
The Kenyan government has agreed to a multiway funding model to finance the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) extension from Naivasha to Malaba, a project estimated to cost at least $4.5 billion (KSh 654 billion).
Source: The Daily Nation
- Smart Cities
Nairobi has dropped to position 136 in the 2025 IMD World Competitiveness Centre’s Smart City Index, a decline from 131 in 2024, out of 142 cities, both years earning a grade D. The top 20 smart cities are Zurich, Oslo, Geneva, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Copenhagen, Canberra, Singapore, and Lausanne.
Source: The Standard Digital
Construction Sector
In the first quarter of 2025, the cost of construction materials in Kenya decreased slightly by 0.3% from the previous quarter, with year-on-year inflation dropping to 0.18% from 3.56% in 2024. This was mainly due to reduced prices of essential components like steel, bitumen, and asphalt, alleviating financial strain in the construction and infrastructure sectors.
Source: Kenyan Wall Street
Bamburi Cement Plc, a subsidiary of the Pan-African Amsons Group, has launched a Ksh100 million Ready-Mix (RMX) concrete plant in Mombasa County, expanding its manufacturing presence in the Coast region. The plant aims to address the rising demand for high-quality concrete solutions driven by infrastructure and housing developments in the coastal area.
Source: Capital Fm News
Kenya should prioritise safeguarding product quality in construction to address the growing issue of adulterated cement and counterfeit supplies, which have become a crisis threatening homes, lives, and the economy.
Source: The Business Daily
Energy Sector
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) is set to begin construction of a national power dispatch centre in May. The new hub is expected to enhance efficiency in managing electricity flow across the country’s transmission network.
Source: The Business Daily
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has set a minimum requirement of 30,000 cylinders for LPG dealer permits under new rules aimed at reducing the influence of cartels and middlemen in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector.
Source: The Business Daily
