Industry professionals are warning that Kenya’s construction sector is being weighed down by its dependence on imported building materials, a trend that is inflating costs, exposing the industry to global disruptions, and limiting opportunities for local job creation.
Speaking at the conclusion of the Big 5 Construct Kenya 2025 exhibition in Nairobi, experts called for urgent action to boost domestic manufacturing capacity if the sector is to remain competitive and sustainable.
“We can’t continue to depend on foreign materials and supply chains if we want to build efficiently and sustainably,” said Kennedy Otieno, Projects Lead at Mi Vida Homes. “The goal should be to grow local capacity so that our projects are resilient to international shocks.”
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Wilma Odalo, an EDGE Expert with the Kenya Green Building Society, emphasized the need for a fully Kenyan value chain in the built environment.
“If we are serious about sustainable construction, then everything, from the steel mill to the bricks and mortar , must be produced locally,” she said.
Participants at the forum urged both the public and private sectors to scale up domestic production of key materials such as steel, ceramics, and concrete blocks, while also promoting alternative technologies like prefabricated panels and interlocking blocks to cut costs and reduce waste.
They further recommended that Kenyan SMEs be empowered to engage in major housing and infrastructure projects through easier access to financing, transparent public procurement processes, and the localization of modern technologies such as modular construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Jennifer Wambua, vice president for education and professional development at the PMI Kenya Chapter, stressed the importance of embedding sustainability in every stage of project design.
“Integrating lifecycle costing, local sourcing, and sustainability targets right from the design phase ensures long-term value and resilience,” she said.
Official data underscores the scale of Kenya’s dependence on imports. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), in 2023, the country imported building materials worth over Sh97 billion, including Sh42 billion in iron and non-alloy steel from China alone. Imports of ceramics, tiles, and sanitary ware also remain high due to limited local manufacturing capacity.
Experts caution that this reliance on external markets not only inflates construction costs but also slows innovation and undermines affordability in Kenya’s housing sector. They are now urging policymakers and investors to adopt homegrown solutions to revive the construction and real estate industries, turning Kenya into a hub for sustainable, locally driven development.
