NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's affordable housing program is set to inject 2.6 trillion shillings (26 billion U.S. dollars) into the economy by 2022, a senior government official.
James Macharia, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, told journalists in Nairobi that the housing program will also double the contribution of real estate and construction to gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 7 percent to 14 percent in the next four years.
"Investment in housing and related infrastructure and services has a multiplier effect of seven times on the national income, triggered by forward and backward linkages through additional investments in building materials production, transportation and marketing," Macharia said during a forum in Nairobi.
In the last quarter of 2018, the ministry released a framework of guidelines on the implementation of the affordable housing scheme in Kenya that outlines the housing project's financing, cost and design, quality and affordability as well as a clear road map for public and private-sector involvement.
Macharia said that housing is one of the principal sectors that can revitalize economic growth and a key driver of development.
He also emphasized that for the government to meet the target of delivering 500,000 affordable and social housing within the stipulated time, adequate financing is required.
"This calls for concerted efforts from all actors in the housing sector to collaborate in the provision of housing in the country to meet the current deficit of 1.85 million housing units," he added.
