Safaricom SACCO calling Kenyans in the Diaspora

THE Safaricom Investment Cooperative is developing a Kshs 1.0 billion shilling housing project in Mlolongo dubbed Blue Bells Gardens. Blue Bells Garden is the Cooperative’s first housing project and the only one of its kind in Mlolongo.

The 300 unit project is being put up in partnership with the Co-operative Bank and is expected to be fully completed in 2015.

The phase one of the two-phase project will build 160 units while in the phase two, 140 units will be build. A three-bedroom flat will retail at Kshs 6.6 million while a 2-bedroom unit will cost Kshs5.6 million.

 Blue Bells Gardens is a top of the range residential facility nestled along the busy Nairobi-Mombasa Road Highway and ICT center. It will have a world class health care facility and a commercial center with large open spaces for children’s play grounds.

Ms. Mackrine Abukah, the Chairperson of Safaricom Investment SACCO announced that it is inviting non-safaricom staff to join the SACCO. To join one needs to pay a subscription fee of Ksh 6 000 and a monthly subscription of kshs 325.

She also announced that the SACCO is open for Kenyan in the diaspora whom they are inviting to invest in the Mlolongo housing project either as buyers or investors in the SACCO. The modalities for Diaspora membership are being worked out, she said. Apart from the Mlolongo development, the SACCO also owns plots in Kajiado, Nanyuki, Kisumu and Machakos on which she develop houses for sale.

At  the end of last year, the SACCO had a capital base of Kshs.503.78million up from Kshs.273.13million in 2011.

The development is targeting middle to upper income earners working in Nairobi and Machakos counties. She is targeting Kenyans in the diaspora to help them invest in housing and help curb the runway housing shortage in Kenya. Kenyans in the diaspora have been duped by dishonest people in the past.

AfDB Launches US$1.26B Kenya – Ethiopia Electricity Highway

The African Development Bank today launched the 1,068-kilometre high-voltage electricity highway to be built between Kenya and Ethiopia.

The project, which is expected to be completed in less than five years, involves the construction of transmission lines of about 437 km in Ethiopia and about 631 km in Kenya and associated AC/DC converter stations at Wolayta-Sodo (Ethiopia) and Suswa (Kenya) substations with a transfer capacity of up to 2,000 MW in either direction.

Speaking at the launch, organized to brief on the project’s technical resources, African Development Bank’s Regional Director for East Africa Resource Centre (EARC), Gabriel Negatu, reiterated the importance of the project to the East Africa’s cross-border trading.

“The African Development Bank recognizes of each of the country specific economic blueprints as well as the region’s economic priorities. This project establishes power trade between Ethiopia and Kenya and the wider East Africa region. It not only improves electricity access at affordable prices and enhances cross-border trade, but also provides an important opportunity to generate revenues for countries having excess power generation capacity, as is the case for Ethiopia,” said Negatu.

He added: “The direct beneficiaries of the project are households, businesses, and industries in communities located in Kenya, the direct off-taker of the power. The interconnection with Ethiopia will ensure access to reliable and affordable energy to around 870,000 households by 2018.”

AfDB played a leading role in the preparation of the project by financing some of the feasibility studies required to making the project bankable.

The African Development Bank, the World Bank, the Governments of Ethiopia and Kenya will finance the project. In addition the French Development Agency expressed interest to finance the project.

The financing for the project breaks down as follows: African Development Bank, US $338 million; World Bank US $684 million; Government of Ethiopia, US $32 million; Government of Kenya, US $88 million; and the expected financing from the French Development Agency, US $118 million.

The African Development Bank’s financing will be used for the financing of the total cost of the transmission line subcomponent and part of the cost of the converter station subcomponent in Ethiopia; part of the cost of the transmission line subcomponent in Kenya; the total cost of the consultancy services for supervision and management for both Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as part of the cost of capacity building component in Ethiopia and in Kenya.

The World Bank’s financing will be used for the financing of the total cost of the subcomponent converter stations in Kenya and total cost of transmission system reinforcement in Kenya and the major part converter stations in Ethiopia as well as part of the cost of the capacity building component in Ethiopia and in Kenya.

Financing from French Development Agency is expected to cover part of the transmission line subcomponent for Kenya. This story was lifted from the Afdb website unediuted.Pleaase read

 http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/afdb-launches-us-1-26b-kenya-ethiopia-electricity-highway-11733/?ut