Stanbic Bank Kenya forecasts its mortgage business in the nation to surge as the economy recovers from the pandemic and the end of presidential elections brings political stability. Picture: BLOOMBERG
The unit of SA’s Standard Bank Group says it’s Kenya’s second-largest mortgage lender and demand for the product is surging. That in part will help the bank’s lending to expand in the “high double digits,” said CFO Dennis Musau. High borrowing costs have kept most Kenyans away from mortgages. That’s changing as the Kenya Mortgage Refinancing Company, a state-owner financier, is lending to commercial banks at lower rates and helping create another product for lenders in East Africa’s biggest economy. Kenya Mortgage targets to disburse $79.2m to banks by the end of the year.
Eight commercial lenders account for 84% of home loans valued at 245 billion shillings , according to the central bank’s annual supervision report. There are 26,723 mortgage loans in Kenya, most of which are issued with variable interest rates ranging from 7% to as high as 15%, according to the report.