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President William Ruto yesterday asked investors in Netherlands to invest in Kenya’s affordable housing project (AHP) and take advantage of ready land.

Ruto, who spoke to the investors in the Hague yesterday, said the nove is part of incentives to attract foreign businesses and bridge the housing deficit in Kenya’s major cities.

“We will provide land for the construction of the houses for free to reduce the cost of production,” noted Ruto, adding that his administration would implement reforms to attract foreign direct investments.

VAT bureaucracies sorted

Among the measures he outlined include resolving the bureaucratic Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds and improving the country’s one-stop-shop facility to make it easy for investors to do business in Kenya.

He was speaking during a business forum that brought together investors from at the Hague, Netherlands.

Ruto’s administration has committed to construct 1 million housing units that are safe, habitable, secure and affordable housing by 2027.

Kenya’s housing demand is estimated at 250 000 units annually. With a supply of only 50 000 new houses annually, there is an 80 per cent annual housing deficit.

The government’s target has fallen short of its target of delivering 500 000 units, with less than 10 per cent of intended units being delivered by 2022.

Ruto also appealed to investors to inject their finances in preventive healthcare, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and the creative economy. He jetted in the Netherlands on Sunday from the UK, after attending the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday. He was also expected to hold a meeting with King Willem-Alexander before departing for Israel, at the invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kenya is the Netherlands’ most important trade partner in East Africa and the world’s cut flower and buds for bouquets centre.

United Nations COMTRADE database indicates that The Netherlands imported $324.6 million (Sh44 billion) worth of commodities in 2022.

The president will then proceed to Israel where bilateral talks are expected to centre around agriculture and specifically reviving the Galana Kulalu irrigation project which stalled in 2019 due to misappropriation of funds.