The development in the building materials and construction industry is an essential component of human settlements development at the local and national levels in both developing and developed countries.
The development of an indigenous building materials and construction industry is still an untapped resource especially in developing countries, where genuinely local firms small or large are often in need of assistance. Similarly the necessary supportive research in building and building materials in these countries is inadequate and does not provide sufficient input for the purposes of the development of this 'important industry in developing countries.
Kenya is one such developing country in Africa where building and construction is one of the major sector of the economy. Its construction sector expanded by 8.6 percent and contributed approximately 6 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2017. It is also one of the major sectors attracting foreign investors to the country
According to Deloitte’s construction trends report released early this year, Kenya has remained the leading country with the highest number of projects in East Africa for four consecutive years, with projects increasing by 78 percent 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 within the government also reveal that the government is spending billions of dollars on transport projects as the country is expected to become the logistics hub of East Africa.
This happens as urban population in Kenya is rapidly growing posing a major challenge in housing that has seen majority of urban inhabitants reside in informal settlement commonly known as slums. With a deficit of 250,000 thousand housing units per annum, new cheaper building technology in Kenya are expected to turn around construction industry.
The Kenyan government has laid out an elaborate low-cost housing strategy that is likely to revolutionize the local real estate sector by bringing into the market some new residential houses for as little as Sh500,000. With the country trying to deal with its 2 million housing deficits, this means that construction industry is growing as well as need for building materials.
In order to make this a success, according to Transport, Urban Infrastructure and Housing Cabinet Secretary James Macharia, the State provides land to private investors who will then take advantage of various building technologies and economies of scale to deliver “truly affordable” homes for citizens.
According to CS Macharia, the center is noted that over the years, the institution has evolved and delved into building research services to cater for the needs of the industry including realization of affordable materials ,efficient construction technologies and environmentally-friendly building materials and techniques.
Kenya launched Building Research Centre Strategic Plan (2017-2022) early last year with the aim of streamlining its affordable housing vision as President Uhuru Kenyatta try to implement the Big Four Agenda.
The Strategic Plan 2017 2022 was mandated to significantly steer the implementation of Kenya's affordable housing agenda in relation to the Global, Regional and National commitments, including: Agenda 2050 (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) which envisions a world of 9 Billion people living well in smarter buildings with net-zero energy usage; The New Urban Agenda adopted in Quito in October 2016 which Kenya is a signatory of; The Paris Agreement (COP 21) which recognizes the crucial role the building, construction and transport sectors play in climate change mitigation and adaptation processes; The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on sustainable energy use, innovative processes, safe and resilient cities, consumption patterns, climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Within the Region, Agenda 2063 on the Africa, Kenya want to aspires towards inclusive growth and sustainable development that is informed by research and innovation, whereas the East African Community propagates for joint establishment and support of scientific and technological research through development of centres of excellence.
"Right here in our Nation, The Constitution of Kenya 2010 Article 43(1)(b) provides for the right to adequate housing and reasonable standards of sanitation; and The Kenya Vision 2030 underscores the significance of Research to the Country’s GDP with the capacity to change the lives of millions of Kenyans for the better. With the launch of the Strategic Plan last year, Kenya Building Research Centre should steer building research geared towards sustainable development," Mr Macharia told China Investment Magazine.
Due to high demand of housing, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) report unveiled recently points at a strengthening construction sector in the region, with import figures of the materials going up each week.
"The sector imported 59,866 metric tons of steel and 53,562 tons of cement clinker,’’ the report read in part.
It further reckons that the two key construction materials steel and clinker - were the leading imports in the conventional cargo terminal. The terminal handled 153,007 tons of cargo in the third week of July alone. Kenya depends on import for clinker, a key ingredient foe cement manufacturing.
Kenya Real Estate Fair（photo by Wang Ying News Agency）
Against the backdrop of booming construction industry boosted by heavy investment in infrastructure and real estate, demand for cement and steel has been on a steady rise across the region.
However, 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.
it is important to note that 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 6.1percent in 2017 compared to 8.8 percent in 2016, and this slowed growth rate is due to the elections and reduced credit supply (as a result of capped interest rates).
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 the country's Big Four Agenda is likely to boost real estate development over the next few years.
Incentives to developers will also include development of support infrastructure such as access roads, electricity, water, health facilities and schools.
Last year, the World Bank urged Kenya to come up with tangible incentives that motivate property developers to shift focus to truly affordable houses that can be acquired by low income earners.
This came amid revelations that house prices in the country had recorded a ten-fold rise in the past seventeen years pushing a majority of Kenyans into informal settlements.
The shortage of decent housing is a problem that many Kenyans, especially the low income households who comprise more than 70 percent of residents in the urban areas, are confronted with. The research into and development of appropriate building materials that are climatically adaptable, socially acceptable and relatively cheaper to produce is one of the ways in which provision of more housing at prices that are affordable to the majority of those who need it can be realised. Efforts in Kenya in the development of appropriate building materials have been going on since the 1970s.
Despite a considerable amount of work done so far, the dissemination of these materials to the general public and to those who need better housing at reasonable costs has not been very successful. Appropriate building materials are not being produced and utilised on a scale comparable to that of the relatively more expensive conventional building materials with the result that the housing shortage continues unabated.
Thanks to new technology which is slowly taking the centre stage in the issue of government building the required houses.
Emergence of polystyrene houses in Kenya is doing good to a majority with low incomes. This relatively new construction technology, using polystyrene, is gaining a foothold in Kenya’s fast-expanding housing sector. The panels for building are made of a light cellular plastic, a by-product of oil refining, which consists of mini spherical particles containing about 98 percent air.
To make houses, polystyrene foam is sandwiched between two slabs of steel wire mesh. Once these have been joined together, they are sprayed with cement to support and strengthen the walls.
The tiny air bubbles trapped in the foam mean polystyrene houses can control climatic conditions better than buildings made of timber or concrete. Because air is a poor conductor of heat, the house stays cool when external temperatures are high and warm when it is cold outside.
Despite the fact that the aspect of building materials have not been fully utilized in Kenya in the awake of government's commitment to build 500,000 affordable houses by 2022, the enabling environment set by President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration has started attracting foreign investors in this sector.
And now, Chinese firms are actively participating in Kenya's real estate sector, which is among the fastest growing sectors in the East African nation.
The over $$3.5 billion industry had been mainly dominated by local firms and a few from Europe. However, with Chinese companies' involvement, the market is becoming diversified.
The Chinese firms have entered the industry in several ways. First, they are massively investing in housing projects on the outskirts of Nairobi, providing buyers with various choices. Second, the houses are being sold at fairly affordable prices compared to others in the market. Third, they are offering some of the cheapest mortgages in the East African nation and fourth, the companies are manufacturing and selling building materials sourced from their home country, which Kenyans are embracing.
These materials include wall panels, tiles, glasses and doors. Analysts noted that Chinese firms' entrance into the real estate sector is coming with a lot of gains for Kenyans seeking to own homes.
In 2017, a housing materials plant worth $$ 98.7million was set to be constructed in Kenya by a Chinese firm- China Wu Yi and was completed in June last year.
The new plant w developed in Athi River and manufactures precast materials that are expected to be sold to other construction firms in the region.
The new housing material plant sits on a 30 acre piece of land in Athi River, off Mombasa Road and constitutes of a pre-cast element plant, a warehouse, display area and a construction material supermarket which pioneers different materials from China, efficiently making it a one-stop shop for building materials in the country. The supermarket is expected to stock stones, ceramic tiles, bathroom appliances, construction electrical fittings, lamps and kitchen furniture among other things.
On the other hand, pre-casts consists of solid wall panels, hollow core slabs, sandwich wall panels, lift shafts, facade panels, staircases and foundation piles.
The Chinese firm which is a multinational company is constructing the factory through its locally incorporated subsidiary China Wu Yi Precast (Kenya) Company Limited.
It has further partnered with two German technology services providers namely, Ebawe Anlagetechnik to assist in the supply of equipment for the concrete pre-casts production and Nemetschek to provide the software for the design of the housing parts.
Another Chinese firm called Twyford ceramics currently produce 60000 square meter tiles per day covering 70 percent local market share hence the biggest tile producer in Eastern Africa.
Editor | Zhang Mei
Design | Gao Rui
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原标题：《Kenya in need of more building materials》
