Kenya’s real estate sector is dominated by high-net-
worth individuals and corporations, with very few
youths investing in the industry, mostly due to
challenges in accessing financing.
Kimiti Wanjaria (28) and Ian Kahara (30), the co-founders of Serene
Valley Properties, represent a new crop of youths
who are teaming up to invest in the property
market. The two IT professionals are behind the
Sigona Valley project, a KSh350m (US$4.2m) gated
estate outside Nairobi. The duo shared their
experiences with How we made it in Africa’s Dinfin
Mulupi .
Tell us more about the Sigona Valley project
Kahara: It is a gated community located about 20
minutes drive away from Nairobi. It has panoramic
views and beautiful scenery. In the north it overlooks
Mount Kilimanjaro. We have Mount Longonot to the
south and in between we have Suswa Mountains just
before Masai Mara and the Ngong Hills. It is set up
on a hill overlooking two valleys.
We are constructing
three and four bedroom villas in three different
house designs. We plan to hand out the 30 villas by
August 2013. We are targeting the middle-income
market segment. We believe now is the time to buy
because we expect the value to appreciate. So far we
have sold 50% of the units.
How did you get into property development?
Wanjaria: We came together because we thought real
estate is a new frontier due to the housing shortage
in Kenya … One day when we were having drinks we
began talking about how to unlock potential in
parcels of land that we own. We gambled with it and
registered a company. We found two other partners
Johnson Waweru and Thomas Koigi, who believed in
the idea and we hit the ground running.
Real estate is capital intensive. How did you finance
the project?
Kahara: The project is structured in such a way that
we, the developers, have to finance part of it. To fill
this gap, we thought of several options, one of them
being debt financing, but getting money from the
banks was a huge challenge. We talked to 12 banks
and gave them proposals. They all asked for three
years audited accounts, which we did not have. They
focused on our own early-stage career profiles, and
the assets we had already accumulated, rather than
the project itself. In short, they did not want to
finance us and this was very frustrating. Everyone
told us our idea was good but we could not raise
money to implement it. We then approached pan-
African development funding institution Shelter
Afrique. They looked at the project and gave us a
loan of KSh200m ($2.4m).
What challenges have you faced?
Wanjaria: Other than funding we also found out that
most of the consultants we worked with in the real
estate industry are very traditional. There is a
certain way they want to do things. We found that to
be a bit too rigid for us. As a dynamic team, we are
raring to go.
Getting statutory approvals from the
government and council offices was also challenging
because of bureaucracy. Most of the people we
consulted with were very discouraging. They were
saying interest rates are at a ten year high and that
we have never built even a single house and now we
wanted to build 30. They told us to try after 15
years. As a team we were wondering, why should we
wait until we are 60 to do something we can do
today?
What advice can you give to young people
interested in investing in real estate?
Wanjaria: They should document their ideas. We
have seen the project through on paper as
successful. We are diligently implementing step by
step. When you can present your ideas properly,
people tend to support you. They should also consult
with the right professionals. You can hit success at
30; you don’t have to wait until 60. Have unwavering
commitment and be patient.
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