Chinese firm (CJI) mulls investing in Kenya’s real estate
By Eric Biegon in Jiangsu China
China’s Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group (CJI) is seeking to expand its activities in Kenya to include real estate industry.
The firm has been operating in Africa for the last 30 years with its area of focus mainly centered on foreign aid projects and international engineering contracting.
According to statistics, the African market appears tremendously responsive to Chinese investments.
China Jiangsu International group says it will widen its scope of activities in the continent in line with president Xi Jinping government’s “Belt and Road initiative’’ as well as the “going global strategy.”
It is for this reason that CJI’s Vice president Gu Yuesheng announced that his firm is initiating urban development projects in Kenya and Mozambique.
“There is a huge demand in the real estate industry. We have analyzed the gaps. We want to fill these gaps,” he announced.
Addressing journalists from Africa in the company’s office in Nanjing city of Jiangsu province, Mr. Gu said the company will begin investments in this sector in Kenya before proceeding to Mozambique, disclosing that representatives from Beijing are in Nairobi to concretize various deals to this effect before unveiling.
“Our research shows that there is a large market in Kenya. We chose Nairobi as a starting point because Kenya’s political and economic situation is stable,” he said.
Having registered success in its operations across 15 African countries over the years, Gu expressed confidence that the new venture will be no different.
“We have established the entry points and we have a secret to guarantee our success in this field”
Last month, two Chinese companies, China National Aero-Technology International Engineering Corporation and Jiangxi Water & Hydropower Construction Co. Ltd pumped billions of US Dollars towards the development of the Two Rivers Investment Mall in Nairobi.
The shift by Chinese companies coming even as the CJI vice president absolved Chinese companies operating in Africa from allegations of importation of labor at the expense of local populations.
“The ratio of Chinese to local employees in our overseas companies is one to ten (1:10). In some cases it is one to fifty (1:50). This is a clear demonstration that Chinese companies are hiring more people from communities in their areas of operations,” he said.
He maintained that the Chinese investments abroad are committed to social responsibility as outlined by president Xi Jinping’s administration.
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