On February 19th, Hoa Binh Construction Group Joint Stock Company announced that it has received bidding letters for five projects in Kenya. These are all social housing construction projects from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Public Works and Housing of Kenya. The projects include residential buildings for the police and military forces, as well as the Kenya Technical University students.
Hoa Binh Construction will be the main contractor for designing and constructing the residential buildings and infrastructure for the following units: Embakasi Multi-Service Unit Training School, Ruiru Police Headquarters, Buruburu Multi-Service Unit Training School, Kiganjo National Police Training School, and Kenya Technical University.
The projects consist of a total of 3,400 apartments, with an estimated investment of $72 million.
In addition to these projects, Hoa Binh Construction has also received invitations to participate in the final round for two other social housing projects in Kenya. These invitations were extended after passing the credibility and capacity assessment conducted by the Kenyan Government. The two additional projects are expected to include a total of 6,200 apartments, with a value of $91.6 million. If successful in winning these bids, the total value of Hoa Binh Construction’s social housing contracts in Kenya will reach $163.6 million.
Prior to this announcement, representatives from Hoa Binh Construction had conducted a survey and working trip to Kenya. Conversely, representatives from the Kenyan delegation, including Mr. Jackson Mburu – Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Bildad Kanuri Kagai – Representative of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce – Kenya branch, Mr. Ahmah Alkizim – Chairman of BECS Construction Consulting Company, and Mr. Wilson Chege – Project Director of BECS Construction Consulting Company, had visited and worked with Hoa Binh Construction’s leadership team at their representative office in Hanoi.
Kenyan delegation visiting Hoa Binh Construction’s representative office in Hanoi
Exporting construction services has been Chairman Le Viet Hai’s dream for the past 12 years. Hoa Binh’s leadership team has identified the overseas market as the “promised land” for the company, and they believe that establishing joint ventures abroad will facilitate their international market development.
Kenya is the first target market for Hoa Binh Construction in Africa. In an interview earlier this year, the captain of Hoa Binh Construction stated that the company has been working with a foreign investor and plans to establish a joint venture in a third country with an initial investment of $120 million, with each party contributing $60 million. Hoa Binh Construction aims to expand to international markets, particularly in Africa initially. This is where the Vietnamese construction industry has advantages in many aspects, as the local construction industry and building material production are still underdeveloped.
“I conducted a survey in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where out of 14 construction projects, 13 had no cranes, hoists, or steel scaffolding. Therefore, Hoa Binh and other Vietnamese construction and building material production companies should confidently enter the African market and are sure to achieve a leading position on this continent.”
“Currently, Hoa Binh’s construction equipment inventory is worth trillions of VND. If this equipment along with Hoa Binh’s staff is brought to Africa, it will help improve all aspects of the construction industry there, including quality, progress, safety, and construction costs for projects in the region. Africa has more than 50 countries and territories, making it the largest and most potential construction market among all continents in the coming decades. Initially, Hoa Binh will focus on the social housing bidding segment, then move on to higher-end projects,” said Chairman Le Viet Hai in an interview with Chuyen Dong Thi Truong (Market Movements) newspaper.
