africon GmbH was contracted by one of our clients and we successfully conducted a research on the aluminium industry in Kenya. We found out that the key drivers of this industry are the construction and real estate sectors in Kenya. Findings revealed that these sectors have experienced positive growth rates within the last five years and are expected to expand even further. Kenya’s construction sector expanded by 8.6% and contributed approximately 6% to the country’s GDP in 2017. It is also one of the major sectors attracting foreign investors to the country. According to Deloitte’s construction trends report, Kenya has remained the leading country with the highest number of projects in East Africa for four consecutive years, with projects increasing by 78% from 23 projects in 2017 to 41 projects worth $38.2 billion in 2018. The major construction projects are in real estate, energy and power, and transport, sources also reveal that the Kenyan government is spending billions of dollars on transport projects as Kenya is expected to become the logistics hub of East Africa. Challenges to this Kenya’s construction sector include: the frequent use of substandard materials, long procurement procedures, low project completion rates, and low technological knowledge. Despite these apparent challenges, continuous growth is expected in the sector as the Kenyan government plans to build 500,000 houses by 2022, and also to reduce corporate tax for developers who construct at least 400 units per year. Kenya’s real estate sector is the 6th largest contributor to Kenya’s GDP, and was valued at $5.5 billion in 2017. The sector expanded by 6.1% in 2017 compared to 8.8% in 2016, and this slowed growth rate is due to the elections and reduced credit supply (as a result of capped interest rates). The construction of new private residential buildings in Nairobi increased from 9,054 in 2015 to 10,002 in 2016, while new public residential buildings rose from 45 in 2015 to 1,062 in 2016. Some of the challenges faced by Kenya’s real estate sector include inadequate sources of funding, high land costs, and infrastructure development costs. However, government initiatives such as digitization of the land ministry, removal of land search fees, and inclusion of affordable housing as part of Kenya’s big four agenda is likely to boost real estate development over the next few years.

1. 20/06/2019 1© africon GmbH 2019
Kenya’s Construction and Real Estate Sector
Continued growth is expected in Kenya’s construction and real estate
sector due to the rising population and infrastructural developments.
Kenya‘s real estate and construction
sector contribution to GDP
(In billion US$)
Source:KenyaNBSGDPreport(2017),Kenya’sconstructionindustrypolicy,(2018),.Deliotte’sAfricaConstructionTrendsReport
(2018),JLL’sAfricaPrimeIndustrialreport(2017.)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Construction Real Estate
CAGR
15.18%
CAGR
6.35%
Kenya
29%
Others
71%
29% of all projects in East Africa are in Kenya (2018)
Number of major projects in Kenya
(2015 - 2018)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2015 2016 2017 2018
$38.2 bn.
Hazina Trade
Centre
Hass Tower