More than 4,300 km of roads will be either upgraded or constructed across the Great Lakes countries

A US$960 million process of constructing and upgrading two key roads in Nairobi through public/private partnerships as part of the multinational Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project (NCTIP) has begun.

The government of Kenya recently signed an agreement with Japan for partial funding of the construction of the Nairobi Western Ring Road. Japan gave Kenya an initial US$420,000 grant for the project.

NCTIP is a multi billion-dollar road and air-transport program that seeks to link the Great Lakes countries to Kenya ’s seaport of Mombasa.

The countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. More than 4,300 km of roads will be either upgraded or constructed across these nations.

The World Bank has pledged US$460 million in financial aid for the project. Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said during the signing of the US$420,000 grant from Japan that Kenya is seeking additional financial aid to finance the project. The tendering process for design and construction works will be carried out by the Ministry of Roads in accordance with Japan’s Grant Aid guidelines.

The grant comes just months after Kenya granted concessions for 106 kilometers of its highway system to two foreign infrastructure development companies—Austria’s Strabag and Israel’s Shikun & Biuni—for the US$893-million deal that was approved by the country’s Parliament last December. Under the 30-year concession, which takes effect in 2014, the two firms will expand the Nairobi Southern Bypass motorway (45km long). They will also build a four lane 5.9 km long road in the city while demolishing 7 roundabouts blamed for the city’s traffic jam.

The government is already negotiating with China for the financing of another US$20-billion section of NCTIP. This section will include the construction of a second port at Lamu plus road and rail links, an oil pipeline to southern Sudan and Ethiopia and an oil refinery at Lamu.

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Solar panels are proving popular in Kenya

The rising electricity rates coupled with unreliable supply of the commodity is fuelling Kenyan interest in solar energy.

Usage of solar energy has proved to be the most economical and beneficial power solution; capable of saving money on household electrical bills while protecting our environment.

Solar energy finds its use in several areas including generating electricity, heating systems and cooking.

With more than 35,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems being sold each year, Kenya has a thriving solar industry. A solar power system is a device that converts sun’s light energy into electrical energy. This is done using solar cells also referred to as photovoltaic cells. Once the required equipment has been installed, electricity becomes instantly available with no monthly charges.

Solar power systems have several advantages:

• Low maintenance: Owing to the lack of moving parts, solar power systems require very little maintenance; thus helping you save money, time and effort.

• Power storage: Solar power systems can store power in cells for the rainy days. This ensures a stable grid quality output without power fluctuations around the clock, daily.

• Environmental-friendly: Using solar energy does not pollute the environment in any way, thus paving way to a greener and better environment.

• Economical: Solar power systems make use of free energy. Once the installation of the necessary equipment is done, the electricity produced by the generator turns out to be available for free.

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All projects shall have building codes and procedures that are displayed at building sites

The government will clamp down illegal builders in Kenya in effort to promote responsible and quality housing, minister for Housing Soita Shitanda has said.

In a speech read by the Director of Administration for Housing Abdul Mwasera while opening the 8th Property and Home Living Expo at the Sarit Center in Westlands, Nairobi, the minister said that the ministry cannot stand by and watch the race for better housing turn into a legacy of poor construction and collapsed buildings.

“In the last three years, our country has suffered not one but eight separate cases of buildings collapsing each taking with them valuable lives,” said Shitanda.

Mr Shitanda noted that all buildings sites shall have building codes and procedures that are displayed at building sites detailing the professional and regulatory credentials of the work being done.

The  minister added that each board must carry the file number showing the building work registered with the local authority which is the last word that ensures the building code is followed.

“A survey carried in the past 5 years by Bamburi Cement and Nairobi City Council had both shown that 70% of buildings were constructed illegally,” he said, adding that developers should design and construct buildings in a professional manner rather than hiring amateurs.

Hass Consult was the gold sponsor for this year’s annual Housing Expo which ended on Sunday. The event was aimed at promoting responsible development and construction so as to curb the recent instances of buildings collapsing. Read the entire Kenya building code document here.

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The demand for housing in Kenay outstrips the supply

The widely anticipated Kenyan housing bubble may not happen any time soon as demand for houses among the middle income earners continues to escalate.

The demand, according to property analysts, is so huge that it far outstrips the supply.

Aware of this trend mortgage companies have been on a conscious drive to expand their product range to cater for this new emerging market.

CFC Stanbic Bank, for example, announced recently an enhanced CFC Stanbic Bank’s home loan product that will see the introduction of Equity Release, which allows customers to unlock the value of their home by borrowing money against their property.

CFC Stanbic Bank has also introduced access mortgage, where customers make lump sum deposits into their home loan account with no additional cost and can withdraw funds at any time.

Billy Lynch, Director of personal and business banking said, “We previously only provided home loans for amounts over Sh5 million but we have now lowered this to Sh3 million.” Mr Lynch added that the bank had lowered its interest rates from 17% to a negotiable rate of between 15.25 and 15.75%.

The bank is expected to launch vacant land financing, pension backed lending and off plan financing in the next three months. This, according to Mr Lynch, will make the bank’s loan products more attractive. CFC Stanbic Bank finances 50 mortgages a month.

Financial analysts have recently pegged the property market as one of the drivers towards economic recovery in 2010.

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Naivasha geothermal power plant

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has unveiled plans to provide Kenya with US$320 million loan for a thermal power plant project as part of Tokyo’s support for the East African country’s efforts on climate change.

Hatoyama and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed Friday in their talks in Tokyo to cooperate in building momentum for the next key U.N. climate conference to be held in Mexico from late November to early December.

Japan plans to implement the loan by the end of next month, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Odinga praised Hatoyama for Tokyo’s $15 billion offer for poor, vulnerable nations to tackle climate change over the three years through 2012 under the Hatoyama Initiative, calling it a voice of reason that emerged amid clashing interests and discord.

He said a nonbinding accord reached at the key U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen in December has become a good starting point and the foundation for the next round of talks in Mexico.

“I was very encouraged by hearing that Kenya approved the Copenhagen accord,” Hatoyama was quoted by the official as telling his Kenyan counterpart, adding he wants to cooperate with Odinga in working to produce a binding accord at the next talks.

Odinga said in June Kenya plans to host the next summit of the so-called Climate Vulnerable Forum, which groups 25 countries facing the threat of climate change impacts such as rising sea levels.

The Kenyan leader called for Japanese support and invited Hatoyama to take part in the June event.

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