SA To Host Housing Forum

By Allan Rotich Posted 29 March 2006 @ 12:04 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - A key investment conference for Africa's housing sub-sector is to take place in Cape Town, South Africa from May 2 to 4.

Known as Housing Africa, the meeting is part of an initiative by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) an agency of the United States government to promote private sector participation in creating middle to upper market homes.

OPIC helps finance US businesses with an eye to investing overseas, and has in its 30 years in Kenya supported Sh1.7 billion ($24 million) in investments.

Mr Lawrence Spinelli, the organisations director of public affairs, was in Nairobi yesterday to promote the conference among private corporations, and to meet with officials from the Ministry of Housing to discuss progress on a memorandum of understanding signed in 2003.

According to Mr Spinelli, critical to the success of the conference is the participation of the private sector, legal experts, senior government officials from around Africa, and private equity fund managers who make private home ownership possible.

In this case, as all funding is channelled via private American companies. US business people will be in attendance to hear of the available opportunities, as will US government officials.

Conference speakers will include Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank Group. The agenda will focus on among other issues, land development, mortgage financing, capital markets and private equity and current housing initiatives. "What you need to encourage more investment is a success story," Mr Spinelli said, in reference to OPIC’s current housing project in Kenya, Joppa Villas, financed to the tune of Sh504 million ($7.1 million). A 400 unit project in Mlolongo, in Nairobi’s periphery, Joppa Villas, has taken well over two years to materialise, despite the fact that down-payments had been made by interested individuals.

Explaining the delay, Mr Tobias Otieno, a commercial specialist at the US Embassy, identified land acquisition as the key culprit. "Prices kept changing and the deal could not be consummated as soon as possible," he said. He also spoke of two bogus land deals which fell through. However, Mr Spinelli remained optimistic about the project's future.