Bamburi Cement has signed a partnership with real estate firm AMG Realtors, in a bid to support diaspora landowners to build their homes in a transparent construction process in Kenya.
Kenyans in diaspora have over the years been hog washed in development projects some of which have turned out to be money minting schemes.
The agreement comes at a time that remittances from the Kenyan diaspora continue to rise, with a substantial share going towards real estate, but with rising risks of project failure due to remittance diversions.
To tame the vice Bamburi says home-builders abroad will now be able to access an end-to-end construction technical advice and building solutions to diaspora customers who have purchased land locally and seek to further develop their property.
Outgoing Bamburi Cement CEO Seddiq Hassani said both organizations will leverage their operational expertise to deliver complete homes to the customers in a smooth process
“Through Maskani, we have supported more than 3,000 customers, through the provision of technical support to construct more than 10,000 housing units and would invite the diaspora to onboard in this targeted program,” said Hassani.
Under the partnership, dubbed Maskani Initiative, a value-added construction process technical service platform launched in 2015, will bring together a network of legitimate and reputable built environment professionals, building materials suppliers, and contractors to offer a custom construction solution.
AMG Realtors CEO Andrew Gitau noted that the partnership is taking root at such time when majority of Kenyans at home and in the diaspora are looking for trusted organizations to actualize their dreams of legitimately owning land and building.
The firms will be looking to take a piece of the Sh453.6 billion sent home as remittances last year, of which real estate accounts for a sizable portion.
