The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will invest 2.96 billion shillings ($20.9 million) to develop 5,000 ‘green’ affordable houses in Kenya.

The investment will be made in collaboration with IHS Kenya Green Housing Partnership and IHS Kenya Green Housing SCSp.
 
IHS Kenya Green Housing is a newly-launched 10-year fund that invests in affordable and green housing developments.

The fund has a target equity investment of up to $140 million (19.8 billion shillings) sourced from various institutional investors, IFC said in a disclosure statement.

The proposed investment will consist of up to $10.9 million from IFC’s own account and up to $10 million from the UK-IFC Market Accelerator for Green Construction Program.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide equity for the development of affordable housing projects with an initial focus on the Nairobi metropolitan area and selectively in other Kenyan counties.

The fund will be managed by IHS Kenya Green Housing Fund GP Limited through its main investment management team based in Nairobi.

President William Ruto said the government would strengthen the housing fund in April to allow more Kenyans to own homes.

The government wants low-income earners to take up the units offered by the affordable housing programme, he said, adding Kenyans will contribute three percent of their income to start owning a house.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com)