Acorn Holdings Limited has entered into an agreement with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) to address the institution’s ever-increasing need for student accommodation.
Acorn is Africa’s largest developer of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation and the developer of Qwetu and Qejani student accommodation.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two entails Acorn providing 1,350 beds next to the university, comprising 540 Qwetu beds and 810 Qejani beds.
Qwetu is Acorn’s flagship brand that provide students with modern, safe, and secure accommodation.
Qejani seeks to provide similar experienSh8,400 per month. Since opening, the Qwetu/Qejani Karen residences along Bogani Road have proven to be a popular choice for CUEA students, with most residents hailing from the university.
This MoU signing is in line with Acorn’s strategy of building strong partnerships with universities, to help them resolve their accommodation needs and enable the universities to concentrate on their core mandate of teaching and research.
The partnership is also in line with global trends where university accommodation is increasingly being provided by the private sector, allowing institutions to focus on their central prerogative.
Acorn Holdings Limited CEO, Edward Kirathe, said: “This partnership aligns itself with our vision to provide premier accommodation facilities for the student population across the continent and is part of our mission to deliver 70,000 beds to student populations in Kenya and the region."
With the recent funding deal ($180 million-Sh23.1 billion) with the the US Development Finance Corporation (US DFC), Kirathe said the firm is confident to expand its student accommodation offering, to cater for the increasing demand of the facilities for students across institutions of higher learning across the country.
Catholic University of Eastern Africa Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Ngari, notedf that between the year 2018 and 2024, the population of the University had doubled from 4,000 to about 8,000 students.
It is projected to grow to 12,000 students by 2030.
"We are glad that Acorn Holdings Limited, through its flagship Qwetu and Qejani student accommodation, has now come to offer quality accommodation in a mutually beneficial partnership. We look forward to further enhancing this partnership with Acorn as our student population grows over time,” Ngari said.
As part of its expansion plans, Acorn has also opened Qejani Chiromo on Riverside Drive, where residents in the new property will enjoy affordable, all-inclusive shared living from as low as Sh10,000.
The opening of the Chiromo property increases Acorn’s portfolio to 8,500 operational beds with an additional 11,500 under various stages of development, cementing its position as the largest provider of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation in the region.