By Antynet Ford
Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS) in partnership with Reall hosted a workshop centred on unlocking green affordable housing finance.
Key players in the built environment exchanged ideas on how to unlock opportunities with a clear road map in next steps to enable implementation.
Affordable housing has been marked as a key route to both climate mitigation, through reducing emissions.
Speaking at the workshop Nasra Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, KGBS applauded the move to have the workshop because this would help build a road map for green affordable housing whether it is private or public-led.
“Kenya has shown commitment and is a leader in decarbonizing the built environment. The urban agenda of the built environment must be in every discussion that touches on government and financiers’ perspective.” she said.
The discussion focused on the role and potential of guarantees to unlock local lending for green-certified affordable housing construction and related offtake, targeting previously unreached groups under the Green Affordable Housing Finance (GAHF) framework and IFC EDGE’s Green Certification Programme.
The Governance & External Affairs Director, Reall and Team Lead for Green Affordable Housing Finance Lucy Livesley said:
“There is a growing volume of climate finance globally that is looking for a home and guarantees have a massive potential and are currently underutilized.”
The discussions align seamlessly with the Kenya Green Building Society’s commitment to not just leading the Green Buildings initiative, but also contributing to the broader goals of Sustainable Urbanization and Affordable Housing, which is critical for the African continent, and a key agenda for President William Ruto.
The workshop featured key industry players shaping the agenda including the IFC, Centre for Affordable Housing, Reall, Kenya Green Building Society, the Architectural Association of Kenya, the Kenya Property Developers Association, the Kenya Bankers Association and other key market players.