NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 7 – Overreliance on imported construction materials is driving up costs, exposing Kenya’s real estate sector to global supply chain disruptions, and limiting job creation, experts have warned.
Speaking during the final day of the Big 5 Construct Kenya 2025 exhibition in Nairobi, industry players urged the government and private sector to strengthen local manufacturing capacity to keep the sector competitive and sustainable.
“We cannot keep relying on overseas materials and external supply chains if we are to build sustainably and at scale,” said Kennedy Otieno, Projects Lead at Mi Vida Homes.
Wilma Odalo, EDGE Expert – Green Buildings Team at the Kenya Green Building Society, added:
“The entire value chain must be Kenyan — from the steel mill to the brick to the mortar — if we want to truly transform our built environment.”
Stakeholders called for scaling up local production of key inputs such as steel, concrete blocks, and ceramics while adopting alternative building technologies like prefabricated panels and interlocking blocks to reduce costs and construction waste.
They also emphasized supporting Kenyan SMEs to participate in large-scale infrastructure and housing projects through improved access to finance, fair public procurement systems, and the localization of foreign technologies such as modular construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM).
According to Jennifer Wambua, Vice President of Education and Professional Development at PMI Kenya Chapter, integrating sustainability targets from the onset of project design is vital for long-term value creation.
“Lifecycle costing, the use of local materials, and aligning sustainability goals with business priorities are critical to delivering real, lasting impact,” she said.
Kenya remains heavily dependent on imported construction inputs. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that in 2023, the country imported over Sh97 billion worth of iron and non-alloy steel — with China accounting for Sh42 billion of that trade.
Imports of ceramics, tiles, and sanitary ware also remain high due to limited local production capacity — a trend industry players say continues to inflate housing prices and slow the sector’s transformation.
Experts are now calling for home-grown solutions to revamp Kenya’s construction and real estate industries, arguing that excessive dependence on imports is stifling innovation, competitiveness, and affordability in one of Kenya’s most critical economic sectors.
