Sh1 billion Sacco real estate Thika Project

Kiambu-based Urithi Housing Cooperative Society has launched a Sh1 billion residential project, City Edge, in Kilimambogo on the outskirts of Thika town, targeting its 6,000 members. Under the scheme, members contributed Sh355,000 to acquire the 100-acre land and the sacco will help them secure building loans from local lenders. The venture, which will comprise 600 housing units, is funded through the society’s cash reserves, including financing from local banks. City Edge Project's first phase is expected to cost Sh300 million and would be completed early next year.

Scale up job creation, President Kenyatta tells Private Sector

Speaking at the President Kenyatta the re-launch of Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said the Government entrenches Kenya’s welcoming investment environment by easing the rigours of doing business, the private sector should make deliberate efforts to employ Kenyans. He also announced that the Government will soon re-launch e-procurement in Government to ensure transparency in the public sector. “These reforms will ensure that you can apply, monitor through the internet who has won the tender, why they have won it and at what price,” he said.

Sh42 billion Lamu Port contract signed with a stern Presidential directive

During the signing of the contract, President Kenyatta directed the Lands ministry has been directed to start paying out Sh4.5 billion set aside to compensate land owners affected by the Lamu port project and to repossess half a million acres in Lamu irregularly allocated to 22 entities. Construction work on the first three berths of the Lamu Port project, headed by the China Communication Construction Company, is expected to begin in September. At completion, the new port will have 29 berths. The project is part of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor.

Q-Score launched to improve borrowing terms

The Q-Score 10 denotes least information available on the customer while 100 indicates sufficient information available on the customer. This is the measure of the amount of data that consumer has on their profile. However, limited information on borrowers continues to hamper the assessment of the actual credit rating of customers with the view to rate them in a way that enables those with high quality credit profiles to get preferential treatment while borrowing.  The Kenya Credit Information Sharing Initiative, started in 2009 by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to facilitate sharing of information on the profile of borrowers, began with a focus on negative customer information, the positive information has been made available since February this year.

National Cement gets Sh6.1 billion from International Financial Corporation  

The investment will see the firm’s production increase fivefold from the current 350,000 tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes per year in the next two years. Devki Group chairman Narendra Raval said the partnership with IFC combines experience from expertise in international infrastructure and environment management with knowledge from Kenya’s building industry to provide the best to customers. The local cement industry has grown with the entry of more companies and expansion of production capacity to supply ready markets in real estate as well as meet the demand from massive infrastructure projects in the region.