The government’s plan to create low cost housing was put in jeopardy earlier this month after the NHC bond flopped. In a complex web of debt management, the World Bank prevented the government from guaranteeing the bond – as the Bretton Woods Institutions don’t want the Kenya to inject money into troubled state enterprises. NHC’s 150,000 housing units were to be constructed in all the key urban centres in Kenya.
However, going by recent history, houses built by parastatal for the poor usually end up being too costly with only the upper middle class or rich able to afford them. Among the prospective financiers that had expressed interest in the deal include International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the French Development Agency (AFD).