Centum Real Estate (Centume Re) has received Sh2.6 billion from the International Finance Corporation to build some 1,940 affordable houses. The real estate company says that with the funds finally in its accounts, it will be aiming to complete the project by the year 2029.
Centum Re, which is a subsidiary of Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Centum Investment Company, has an 8,000-acre land bank across East Africa.
Centum Re will kick off by deploying the funds towards the construction of the green affordable homes under the Mizizi project that is situated at at the Two Rivers. The project comprises of commercial and residential units that have been priced at between Sh1.9 million and Sh10 million.
“This facility allows us to take a long-term view in developing scalable, sustainable communities,” said Centum Re Managing Director Kenneth Mbae. The facility will be repayable over a seven-year period.
The mega project is considered prime due to its location in what the International Finance Corporation has described as Kenya’s Diplomatic Blue Zone.
According to Mbae, the project has been subdivided into six phases with each phase targeting around 300 affordable houses. He said that the first phase of 300 housing units is at the roof level and is set to be completed by February 2026. All the houses in this phase have been sold off.
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At the same time, the company has sold off 256 houses off plan ahead of the start of the second phases of construction in August this year.
“There will be six phases and we plan to complete the project by 2029. The second phase will begin in August because we have structured the work in a way that allows us to start a new phase without fully completing the previous one,” Mbae told local media. “Our goal is to build in sequences of at least 600 units.”
