Nachu Plaza Adds To The Growing List Of Cooperative-Owned Landmarks In Nairobi

Mr. Ali Noor Ismail, CBS

It gives me great pleasure to join the National Co-operative Housing Union Limited (NACHU) on the official opening of the NACHU Plaza. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Union for this great milestone, which is a culmination of a carefully executed strategy, determination and hard work. NACHU Plaza adds to the list of other co-operative owned landmarks in the prestigious Upper Hill area of Nairobi. The high population growth in urban areas and the rural- urban migration at the rate of 4.4 percent in Kenya has overtaken the government’s capacity to put up adequate housing and related infrastructure. This has resulted in increased housing demand and created a deficit of more than two million housing stock. The current annual demand is over 500,000 housing units, but unfortunately, the average annual supply is about 50,000 units in urban areas. Co-operatives are expected to play a crucial role in the provision of affordable shelter and bridging the gap in the housing finance market. In order to close this gap, it is necessary to adopt strategies and actions that are innovative and proactive. It is in this area that I wish to encourage NACHU to intensify its resource outreach to scale up the delivery of affordable housing to more Kenyans through the co-operative model. 

As we all know, the co-operative sector in Kenya is the most developed in Africa, so NACHU and similar national co- operative institutions should take advantage of this in their development programmes. I take cognizance of the fact that NACHU has deliberately initiated housing projects targeting the youths in the boda- boda industry and women-led households that have for a long time been left out of the mainstream focus. The State Department for Co-operatives is aware of the fact that governance plays a very critical part in the growth and development of co-operatives. It’s for this reason that the Department will continue to promote ethical conduct and integrity reforms in co-operative societies through training,education, information and enforcement of prudential standards. I applaud NACHU for the effort in delivering NACHU Plaza through the support of its membership and financiers. Congratulations once again for this great milestone. Shukran.