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China’s ‘Big Three’ Bet Sh54bn on Kenya Real Estate Market

AVIC, China Wu Yi, and Twyford Ceramic have invested Sh54 billion into local projects.

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Chinese prefabs factory in China.
Workers look over building beams at a prefabs factory in China. PHOTO | FILE

Three top Chinese companies have collectively invested Sh54 billion into the Kenyan real estate and construction sector over the past two years, in a move that further cements Kenya as a regional hotbed for property investments.

AVIC International, China Wu Yi Co. Ltd., and Twyford Ceramic have between 2015 and now invested a total of Sh54 billion into projects that are aimed at expanding their global businesses while revolutionising the Kenyan construction industry.

AVIC, the Chinese manufacturing giant building its Sh10 billion Africa hub in Nairobi, is upgrading its plans for the city and it will now invest Sh42 billion in the construction of what it calls Global Trade Centre – pledged to be a landmark building in Nairobi.

Avic becomes the first Chinese company to set up its Africa headquarters in Kenya, a move that is expected to encourage other Chinese multinationals to follow suit.

China Wu Yi, a well-known name in Kenya, has invested Sh10 billion to establish a construction industrialization base. This facility will include research and development capabilities along with warehouses for construction materials.

It aims to produce 50,000 cubic meters of structural components annually to meet the rising demand for new homes in Kenya.

RELATED: China Wu Yi to Open Kenya’s First Building Materials Supermarket

The facility, whose completion is due in March, sits on a 30-acre parcel of land off Mombasa Road and has a total floor area of 75,970 square metres.

This is the first facility of its kind to be established overseas by China Wu Yi.

Privately owned Twyford Ceramic Company, which last year opened a Sh3 billion ceramics factory in Kajiado, has in one year grown to become the largest ceramics manufacturing company in East Africa.

The company produces 30,000 square metres of floor tiles every day, according to Guo Ce, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya.

“The company plans to invest Sh7 billion in its expansion plans and has so far invested Sh3 billion,” he said adding that the second production line that will be operational from next month will double the production capacity.

Judy Mwende, a Journalism graduate from the University of Nairobi, is a seasoned writer and editor with more than a decade of practical experience covering the global construction industry.