In the heart of the crowded Kibera neighborhood in Kenya's capital, Jacinter Awino shares a small tin house with her husband and four children. She envies those who have escaped such makeshift homes to more permanent dwellings under the government’s affordable housing plan. The 33-year-old housewife and her husband, a mason, are unable to raise the $3,800 purchase price for a one-room government house. Their tin one was constructed for $380 and lacks a toilet and running water.
A company, 14Trees, has used the technology to build a showcase house in Nairobi and 10 houses in coastal Kilifi County. The company's chief executive, Francois Perrotm, said the technology can help address the huge housing need on the African continent, but it will take time. “If we want to clear that backlog, we need to build differently, we need to build at scale, with speed, and with low-carbon materials, and this is what construction 3-D printing makes possible,” Perrot said.