The Kenya Homes Expo is set to open its doors to the 33rd edition this April converging developers and financiers in an influential platform that serves as a major stimulus for the housing sector.
Global emerging issues like sustainability and climate change will be center stage as more financial investors opt for funding green projects. For instance, the last two years KCB Group has disbursed Sh336 billion for eco-friendly projects as the lender deepens its push for sustainable finance.
The Kenya Homes Expo managing director Daniel Ojijo says that financiers are keen are on backing environment-friendly projects.
“Given the sensitization on green housing, the construction sector is embracing less hazardous ways to build. A number of property owners and users are warming to the idea of going “green” and many have implemented green technology on and in their buildings to generate energy or even to preserve raw materials and energy,” he said.
With forums like real estate expos, conversations are ignited by different stakeholders in the sector and strategic partnerships are created which oftentimes revolutionaries the industry.
Ojijo says that convenience is achieved through expos where ideas and decisions are executed.
“We are seeing opportunities in expos as a market where product, service manufacturers and consumers meet in a specific time and place. The exhibition-specific subject gives the participant companies an opportunity to catch the related demand in the shortest time and in the most efficient way”, he said.
Exhibitions in Kenya are meeting platforms for companies, professionals and industry experts to come together, share information and build long-lasting business relationships. In established economies, exhibitions are a vital part of product marketing, along with direct selling, and advertising.
Experts estimate that green finance is increasingly being used to accelerate the transition to a greener economy, as it offers the financial backing required to implement environmental initiatives, such as green real estate, on a global scale. Individuals, governments and companies across the world are now working more closely to develop awareness, form “green” affiliated entities and groups, ratify legislation and offer green funding to save energy and natural resources.
Green finance has several advantages for lenders and borrowers alike. There are clear environmental and reputational advantages. New frameworks have been proposed by central banks and governments throughout the world to support sustainable financing.
Kenya’s commitment to addressing climate change through green finance will progressively emerge as a key topic underpinning policy development in promoting sustainable development and financial market development.
Large amounts of financial resources are needed to address climate change, both for mitigation to reduce emissions, but also for adaption to the impacts that are already apparent. Expos are certainly setting the pace to how the built environment will operate in decades to come.
