Kenya Affordable Housing Finance Project

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The development objective of the Affordable Housing Finance Project is to expand access to affordable housing finance to targeted beneficiaries. There is one component to the project, support to the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC). This component will support the establishment, capitalization and operationalization of KMRC. KMRC is modelled after other mortgage refinance companies supported by the WBG (e.g. in West Africa, Tanzania, Pakistan), but its distinctive feature will be to serve SACCOs and microfinance banks as well as commercial banks. KMRC will be a majority-private company supervised by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and by the Capital Market Authority for its bond issuances. Annex five summarizes KMRC business and operationalization plan. KMRC will contribute to developing the mortgage and housing finance markets. Key benefits include: (i) provision of long-term funds so that lenders can match their assets and liabilities; (ii) better affordability of mortgage loans as financial institutions extend the maturity of their loans; (iii) creation of a safety net to the financial system as banks and SACCOs know they have a source of liquidity when they need it, which incentivizes them to produce long-term loans; (iv) enhanced competition, by removing long-term funding as a barrier to entry in the mortgage market (especially relevant for SACCOs); and (v) deepening of the private bond market as KMRC becomes a regular issuer.