Urbanis Africa to Manage Jamii Bora Makao

By Eric Akasa

Urbanis Africa, a real estate development and management agency, has entered into a management agreement with Jamii Bora Makao (JBM).

Under the agreement, Urbanis Africa will provide management services to Jamii Bora Makao, Kenya’s leading housing developer for the low-cost market, including senior staff in operations and strategic management.

 “We are delighted to have the opportunity to help Jamii Bora Makao reach new heights. We are confident that through our involvement the company will be able to deliver quality housing to its clients while generating shareholder value,” Wagane Diouf, JBM chief executive officer, remarks during the signing.

Lars Olof Helgren, chairman Jamii Bora Makao, said that the entry of Urbanis Africa represents a strategic partnership for its shareholders. “We share the company’s vision and approach to management of real estate projects,” notes Helgren. “Through the relationship with Urbanis, we expect to achieve our objective both from a social perspective and financial returns.” He adds.

Jamii Bora Makao was founded in 2007 to provide affordable housing to low-income Kenyans. To date the company has built in Kaputei town 750 units housing complex with infrastructure, primary and secondary schools and is currently building 2,000 units.

Urbanis Africa also manages Kenani Housing Company. Kenani Housing Estate, located in Athi River 37km from Nairobi, is a self-contained community of middle and low income housing. The estate has been planned to accommodate three and four bedroom maisonettes targeting middle income families with children, two and three bedroom apartments targeting middle income first-time home owners and 3 to 2 roomed flats targeting low income population. The prices range between Sh1.5 million at entry level and Sh7 million at the high-end.

Urbanis is pursuing similar affordable housing developments in East and Southern Africa.  Urbanis designs affordable housing projects and creates a network of real estate professionals to implement and promote these projects.  The company gets a development fee from these arrangements. Also, Urbanis acts as an investor by injecting between 20% and 50% of the equity required in the projects it leads.

Urbanis will set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for each project it initiates. “The purpose of setting up a separate legal structure for each investment is to provide each project a different group of investors and lenders who are exposed exclusively to a single project,” observes Diouf. “Furthermore, each SPV will have its governance and allow the investors to have a direct oversight on the project.” He adds.

He said Urbanis does not have large permanent structures. All the functions related to a project are outsourced to specialised firms and consultants. “Essentially, URBANIS creates an ecosystem for every project - standards and controls are designed centrally,” he points out. “Implementation is devolved to the SPV to act as the project manager, and through the SPV to the contractors and outsourced professionals at the construction level.” He concludes.