Nairobi, 16^th November 2023— The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) has announced the 3rd Kenya Affordable Housing Conference (KAHC) that aims to foster collaboration among key stakeholders, discuss sustainable practices, and showcase achievements in the affordable housing sector.

Themed Affordable Housing for Economic Transformation and Social Inclusion, the KAHC is scheduled for November 22^nd – 23^rd, 2023, at the Sarova Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa County. Attendees can expect engaging sessions, in-depth discussions and networking opportunities that will contribute to the development and growth of affordable housing in Kenya. It will also be a platform for sector stakeholders enhance demand and supply sides linkages and discuss issues affecting the delivery of affordable housing and how to resolve them.

“This conference is KMRC’s flagship stakeholder event through which we aim to foster public-private dialogue in the pursuit of Kenya’s affordable housing goals. As a company established on the strong auspices of a Public-Private-Partnerships, collaboration is important to our growth and a seamless delivery of our value proposition to our stakeholders. We are looking forward to transformative discussions and practical deliberations for implementation by all stakeholders,” said KMRC CEO/MD Johnstone Oltetia. “

The conference will host key government officials, industry leaders, financiers, developers and other experts who play pivotal roles in driving the affordable housing agenda. It is set to bring together an impressive lineup of distinguished speakers who will share their insights and expertise on crucial topics shaping the future of affordable housing in Kenya, and its central role and contribution in the economy.

The keynote speech will be given by Hon Alice Wahome - CS, Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development titled Land Reforms to support Affordable Housing.

Other distinguished speakers include:

1. Mr. Charles Hinga - PS, State Department for Housing and Urban Development
   • Topic: Government Interventions to Spur Supply of Affordable Housing
2. Dr. Chris Kiptoo, CBS - PS, The National Treasury
   • Topic: Role of Housing in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)

KMRC commenced its lending operations in September 2020 and has till date disbursed Kes 9.6 billion to participating lenders for on-lending to borrowers. The Company provides competitive, low interest, fixed, long-term finance to participating lenders, with a long repayment period (up to 25 years), making home loans attractive and affordable. Through its refinancing, KMRC has positively impacted 10,088 families.

Other notable achievements include: improving finance accessibility as a result of inclusion of SACCOs as part of its lenders thus diversity and healthy competition; promoting gender inclusivity- 45% of KMRC loans were extended to women as at end of 2022 therefore contributing towards gender parity in Kenya’s financial products’ access; providing access to capital market funding through its issuance of a corporate bond in March 2022 which attracted Kes 8.1billion worth of bids against a target of Kes 1.4 billion in the first tranche of the medium-term note program; establishment of a risk sharing facility- KMRC has initiated the process of developing a Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) to de-risk borrowers by offering a partial mortgage guarantee on the mortgage portfolios generated by lenders mainly from borrowers with non-formal income. This will encourage lenders to shift financing down market, widen the scope of housing finance and reduce the housing financing gap, especially for non-formal income borrowers who are considered “high risk.”

ENDS