NAIROBI, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Analysts said on Monday that Kenya could tap Chinese technology and finance in order to achieve its affordable housing agenda.
Johnson Denge, senior manager at Nairobi-based Cytonn Investment, told journalists in Nairobi that Kenyan contractors have shied away from the affordable housing sector due to a number of challenges.
"Chinese contractors bring a lot in terms of large scale of production through deployment of technology which mechanizes construction which can be used to roll out affordable houses targeted at the low income segment of the population," Denge said when Cytonn Investments released its Annual Market Outlook 2019.
Under President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda, Kenya plans to construct 500,000 affordable houses by the end of 2022.
Denge said that Chinese contractors are ideal partners in the housing sector because of their ability to self-finance projects.
He noted that some of the public housing projects require the private sector to use their own funds to build houses and later receive payment from government.
"This effectively locks out local contractors from playing a role in the affordable housing scheme due to lack of funds," he said.
Cytonn Investments said that the cost of decent houses remains beyond the reach of ordinary citizens primarily due to the high cost of land.
According to the analysts, Kenya's real estate sector has concentrated in the high and middle income segment because of the huge profit margins as compared to low income housing.
