Take us through your agribusiness plan and how it works
In keeping up with market trends and always working towards being the home of strategic land investment, we rolled out the agribusiness plan. We decided to expose out clients to modern methods of farming. Diamond Merchants sells you land, and at an extra fee, we help you earn income from the plot through agribusiness, as opposed to buying and letting the land lie idle until you are ready to construct a house or sell it.
What is the progress so far?
We have an agribusiness package, dubbed “Bethany City – The Agribusiness Haven” in Isinya and Kajiado towns. The company has partnered with Nguzo International and SME Kilimo to do the greenhouse farming activities for our clients. Phase one and two in Isinya is fully sold and operational. Phase three is in Kajiado and we are in the process of finalising the process of selling the plots, then start erecting the greenhouses.
Our plan is to continue investing more in research and diversify the crops as well as set up a processing plant, through joint partnerships, to target the export market for the future produce from our clients.
How does value addition to land affect real estate trends?
It is a win-win situation for both clients and real estate companies. It is an incentive to clients. We have recorded tremendous growth of our sales after introducing this concept. I can say it is definitely a move in the right direction for the industry. Developers have an obligation to continue churning out such innovative concepts that benefit both parties.
The real estate market in Kenya is shifting focus to providing houses for the middle- and low-income groups. Are you doing anything on this front?
We are in this fully, from land to houses. We have plots below Sh500,000 with flexible repayments of up to 12 months. We have also partnered with financiers for an elaborate and longer repayment tenure. In our “buy-and-build” strategy, we are building bungalows for as low as Sh1.3 million and maisonettes for Sh1.5 million, case in point being Eden Park, our Kangundo Road project.
Tell us about Top100 award that Diamond Property Merchants recently won
We emerged this year’s winners at the ninth edition of Business Daily – KPMG’s Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies’ annual survey. Our greenhouse concept also won an award as Best Marketing Strategy at Real Estate Management Awards.
The awards are a recognition of our excellent work, our commitment and focus to deliver on aspects of “value addition” in real estate investment. It is also a challenge to keep our game up.
What is your company’s plan going forward?
We are focusing on maintaining our position as an industry leader in strategic real estate investment. Our aim is to empower Kenyans to own real estate and to convert the tenants population into home owners through affordable plans and in line with the realisation of vision 2030.
