ACORN, Catholic University Of Eastern Africa Sign Mou For Provision Of 1,350 Student Beds
Acorn Holdings Limited – Africa’s largest developer of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation and the developer of Qwetu and Qejani student accommodation – has solidified its partnership with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address the university’s ever-increasing need for student accommodation.
The partnership entails Acorn providing 1,350 beds next to the university, comprising 540 Qwetu beds and 810 Qejani beds. Qwetu is Acorn’s flagship brand that provide students with modern, safe, and secure accommodation to enable them to live, study and thrive during their student life.
Qejani seeks to provide similar experience at a more affordable price with an all-inclusive offering starting from KES 8,400 per month. Since opening, the Qwetu/Qejani Karen residences along Bogani Road have proven to be a popular choice for CUEA students, with most residents hailing from the university.
This MoU signing is in line with Acorn’s strategy of building strong partnerships with universities to help them resolve their accommodation needs and enable the universities to concentrate on their core mandate of teaching and research.
The partnership is also in line with global trends where university accommodation is increasingly being provided by the private sector, allowing universities to focus on their central prerogative.
Commenting on the development, Acorn Holdings Limited CEO, Edward Kirathe, said:
“We are pleased to be deepening our partnership with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa through the signing of this MoU. This partnership will enable us develop housing units which will provide 1,350 student housing beds to the university’s student population, providing them with quality, safe, and affordable accommodation facilities.
“This partnership aligns itself with our vision to provide premier accommodation facilities for the student population across the continent and is part of our mission to deliver 70,000 beds to student populations in Kenya and the region. With the recent funding deal with the the US Development Finance Corporation (US DFC), we are confident to expand our student accommodation offering to cater for the increasing demand of the facilities for students across institutions of higher learning across the country.”
Speaking after the MoU signing, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Prof. Stephen Mbugua Ngari, said:
“Between the year 2018 and 2024, the population of the University had doubled from 4000 to about 8000 students, owing to the quality education that we provide, and this is projected to grow to 12,000 students by 2030. We are glad that Acorn Holdings Limited, through its flagship Qwetu and Qejani student accommodation, has now come to offer quality accommodation in a mutually beneficial partnership. We look forward to further enhancing this partnership with Acorn as our student population grows over time.”
As part of its expansion plans, Acorn is also pleased to announce the opening of Qejani Chiromo on Riverside Drive, which is scheduled to open on August 1st, 2024.
Residents in this new property will enjoy affordable, all-inclusive shared living from as low as KES. 10,000. The opening of the Chiromo property increases Acorn’s portfolio to 8,500 operational beds with an additional 11,500 under various stages of development cementing Acorn’s position as the largest provider of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation in the region.
