Casting for a housing solution

Chinese company hopes Kenya factory will help with Africa's home shortage

A Chinese firm is determined to bridge the housing deficit in Africa after announcing the near completion of a modern precast housing factory worth $33 million in Kenya.

According to the latest data by the government, the Kenyan market supplies 50,000 housing units against a demand of 250,000 units annually.

Slated to open in two months, Boleyn Magic Wall Panel Ltd says the factory, which will have an annual production of 30,000 housing units, will manufacture affordable and innovative precast concrete building components.

"The technology will reduce the cost of homes by more than 20 percent while drastically reducing the labor costs and time by over 60 percent," says Jack Liu, managing director of the company.

Precast concrete is made by casting concrete in a steel pallet in a workshop, then curing it in a regulated chamber before shipping it to a construction site for installation. A builder can put up a house in eight days without compromising safety.

Liu says the technique will start displacing substandard projects that have led to the collapse of buildings worth an estimated $16 million every year. Precast building techniques will also provide homes for low- and middle-income residents.

This will be made possible through the manufacture of products like wall panels, half slabs, and hollow-core slabs for flooring and roofing. "There is no need for plastering or any other formal work, hence easing the construction costs for a first-time homeowner," says Liu.

The precast elements will be used in the construction of apartments, villas, office buildings, shopping malls, schools, hospitals and highway bridges, he says. The factory can manufacture pressurized beams, road barriers, railway sleepers, highway and bridge double T beams and staircases.

"Since precast concrete is manufactured in a controlled casting environment, it is easier to control the mix, placement and curing, hence the quality of the construction can be controlled and monitored much more easily that on site cast concrete," says Liu.

There is growing demand for this technology. Already, the company has received orders to build a six-floor office block at the Wilson Airport, an airfield west of Nairobi that serves regional destinations; multiple parking facilities at Mombasa's Moi International Airport; and six residential blocks of 18 floors in Athi River.

The company has also been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development to build 750 housing units for the Kenya Police. The construction is slated to commence in mid-April. "The demand for this solution is promising," says Liu.

This year the government has set aside about $14 million to construct 80,000 housing units for the security force.

However, his optimism for growth is guarded. He believes demand could grow even faster if Kenya had the required technical capacity. The construction industry has a shortage of engineers, architects and other technical skills needed for installation. Liu says the company hosted 300 professionals at a technical workshop last year and the feedback was positive. "They don't know (about it), but they are very interested," he says.

To buoy this response, the company plans to put up a new office block consisting of 24 offices near the factory at Kitengela, a 30-minute drive from downtown Nairobi. "We want people to understand that this is a new technology, improved from what is in the market."

According to Daniel Ojijo, executive chairman of Homes Universal Ltd, a real estate company that has been in the market for more than 10 years, the perception of precast concrete is improving. "Sometimes people dislike a product just because they do not understand it, but once information is shared, the customer accepts it," he says.

The cost-reduction advantage is a big boost to the industry, he adds. "The rapid growth and development of urban centers today call for shorter timelines. Cost effective and proven technologies that guarantee quality standards and uniformity are the need of the hour."

The industry pundit says partnerships will go a long way in pushing the product into the market. However, the technology is self-selling since it provides answers to the prevailing challenges faced by would-be homeowners, Ojijo says.

"This product has come at an opportune time, when the national and county governments are joining with private investors to address the shortfall in supply of quality affordable housing," Ojijo says.

The Chinese firm plans to build a second factory in Tanzania. The factory will support the construction of the $11 billion new port. Plans call for it to enter Uganda in 2017 and Zambia the following year.

Lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/03/2015 page20)