Centum Real Estate Managing Director Kenneth Mbae.
Centum Real Estate (Centum Re) has received Sh2.6 billion funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), setting in motion plans to build affordable 1,940 housing units at the Two Rivers Development.
The deal with the World Bank’s private lending arm, IFC, serves as the approval for Centum Re’s multi-billion-shilling housing projects.
The funds will be deployed in the construction of green, affordable homes within the Mizizi project at the Two Rivers residential and commercial complex.
“The facility allows Centum RE to take a long-term view and develop housing communities of scale in the region,” said the Centum Re Managing Director, Kenneth Mbae, regarding the IFC funding that is repayable in 7 years.
Centum Re is a fully owned subsidiary of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed Centum Investment Company Plc.
The IFC loan makes up nearly a fifth of the total project cost estimated at $91 million (Sh11.8 billion).
“The project is located in Two Rivers, a prime mixed use urban node located within Kenya’s Diplomatic Blue Zone in northern Nairobi and where the Company currently resides,” notes IFC in its project assessment notes.
Centum Re in 2023 paid up a Sh3 billion bond that it issued to finance its housing projects, reflecting its strong credentials in the real estate space.
The planned green houses are defined as resource efficient homes that achieve more than 30 per cent saving in energy, water and the embolden materials.
The homes, which will be priced at between Sh1.9 million and Sh10 million, are cleverly and intentionally designed to allow for adequate natural lighting and cooling, which provides a high quality of life.
“The homes are expected to be constructed in phases. The first phase is already significantly advanced with 600 houses already completed and sold out,” said Mbae.
Centum Re has a land bank of more than 8,000 acres in East Africa situated in prime, urban and peri-urban locations.
“Centum RE is now a dominant homes brand, with a solid track record of raising and repaying capital coupled with a demonstrable reputation of building mixed use communities in Kenya & Uganda,” said Mbae.
He believes in sticking to the time-tested strategy of executing pre-sales for projects, as a way of testing customers appetite.
The IFC funding, Mbae believes, will help to attract even more investors to Centum Re projects.
“IFC is an aspirational partner to many businesses. We believe success attracts more success and other institutions will keen to partner with Centum RE.”
