Page 9 - Newsletter

estates to facilitate accommodation. This region has a large shares. These are the three main challenges we are dealing
NGO population, therefore conferencing is a big requirement, with and I am happy that so far there is a lot of traction and
and yet the facilities are very limited. We want to take progress in how they are being resolved.
advantage of that opportunity and provide facilities to them
and for the entire western and lake region. We have only just What is your vision for the future of Home Afrika in the next
started this project and we are looking for both local and 2/3 years? What would you like to have achieved by then?
international partners to form a joint venture with Home
Afrika for resources and technical involvement to bring We would like to deliver a million houses in Africa in the next
success to this project. ten years. Our focus for the next two to three years is to
complete our existing projects, as opposed to taking on new
The third project is a 21-acre land parcel first row to the projects. Fundraising will be crucial next year in order to
beach in Tiwi, South Coast. We intend to build a convention facilitate financing for the completion of the projects. That
center there as well while also developing holiday residential would mean between 5,000 and 10,000 new homes. Then,
going to the low-income and affordable housing market, we
facilities. We are looking for investors to joint venture with
expect to deliver many more homes in a shorter period of
Home Afrika for both the convention center and the holiday
time.
homes. We believe that if we raise enough capital we will be
able to complete this project in three (3) years. Do you foresee any evolution or changes in the housing
development sector in the next few years?
What are the main challenges faced by Home Afrika on a
daily basis and what is being done to overcome these Two areas will change significantly in the next few years. One
challenges? is the accommodation and acceptability of the use of
technology in developing housing units. Kenyans have been
We are currently facing three main challenges: very slow at taking up precast built homes and other kinds of
building technology. As new units are built, and faster, people
We have had a negative perception in the market about how will find them affordable, think they are robust enough and
the company is run, what it represents and what it is doing, take them up faster.
particularly concerning governance and meeting obligations.
Most of these have now been sorted out. Another thing that will happen is that the financing systems
and mortgages are going to change dramatically. One of the
We changed our governance structure to gain more reasons why there are very few mortgages in the market are
credibility in the market and we changed the management pricing and financing structures. It is impossible to have rates
structure as well, to improve the commercial side of our rangebound at 14% for mortgages, the rate that would be
business. Since then, our performance has significantly favorable to low income earners. As long as we have house
improved. We are happy that the market is starting to see us prices varying between KES. 5 million and KES. 20 million, it
in a different light. will be difficult for low income earners to afford such houses.
We intend to look at how we can engage in that market
Secondly, access to capital in order to complete our projects offering good technology and mortgage facilities that enable
has been a major challenge. We have 6 billion shillings worth buyers to afford them.
of land bank that is currently in our balance sheet. We have
to inject new capital to transform it into completed projects. Africa is rising, and we have a very large middle income group
That challenge will only be resolved by seeking new capital coming into the market and an increase in the low income
partners. We have already spoken to quite a number of local group becoming a middle income group. We also see much
and international investors. accountability opening up in the markets we are interested
in.
We are now developing an information memorandum and
financial data that will be reviewed by these investors. We All this is pushing rural to urban migration that will lead to
are hopeful to conclude this fundraising process by mid 2017. significant demand for houses in the next ten to 30 years. We
want to be leaders in the provision of affordable housing. We
Another issue we have to deal with right now is the market’s want to be a relevant party in the narrative, making sure that
perception that the company is being mismanaged and that Africans are housed so they can become more productive.
our share price is representative of the company’s value. We
have taken the view to educate the market to understand our
financials better to help them see the significant underlying (MarcoPolis is an international publishing company headquatered in)
value that cannot be seen in them due to reporting Paris, France

requirements under International Financial Reporting
Article reference:
Standards (IFRS). We are hopeful that, as the investor market http://www.marcopolis.net/home-afrika-a-property-development-company-
gets better understanding of our business and its financials, providing-homes-for-all.htm
they will be more interested in buying, not disposing our