Now, the JBM Property Development Unit has expanded to target all wananchi (citizens),specializing its focus on the low-income earners. With this select group in mind, JBM also offers a considerable value and payment plan. “With just KES 1.5 million, you can get a house at JBM and either pay in cash or installments of up to 18 months,” says Wagane Diouf, JBM C.E.O. JBM are building 2-4 bedroom bungalows and with an average 3 bedroomed apartment in Nairobi going for about 8m KES, they are providing a pretty good deal.

And that’s exactly what’s helping Elizabeth Wambui make a huge change in her life. The former business lady who used to sell chips is now anxiously waiting on her new house. She says, “Through JBM, I am getting a house in Kaputei near Kitengela by the first week of November. It’s exciting and a relief because I have three kids, so that’s less trouble for me. The installments are way friendlier than the exorbitant costs of rent in Nairobi.” Elizabeth, who also works in the Jamii Bora Sacco marketing department, will soon join the ranks of 750 new homeowners thanks to Jamii Bora Makao.

With 800 more ordered and a vision of providing 2,000 houses in the next two years, JBM means business. But part of increasing the numbers game has meant scouting for land outside the overcrowded capital. The optimistic CEO Wagane Diouf has a hectic schedule. Fresh from a daylong site visit to Isinya in a bid to acquire land, he speaks about JBM’s focus on developing property in the outskirts of the city, “[We] took to decentralizing our projects because the cost of land in Nairobi is unbearable. You can hardly get large and open land in Nairobi to purchase,” he says.

JBM is working on 320 acres of space situated in Kisaju, located between Kitengela and Isinya towns. With sky rocketing costs of land in Nairobi and its environs, striking a balance between affordability to the customer and making returns is a challenge. But JBM seems to know a thing or two about killing two birds with one stone. “We manage our own delivery processes by manufacturing our own materials and building [the] houses ourselves—that way operating on low costs and also providing employment to others”, says Diouf. Also on the works for JBM is a commercial centre and amenities like schools and medical facilities. Diouf says, “We provide more than just a house but homes.

It’s a lifestyle and a community that we wish to expand to over 10,000 homes in the next five years,” he concludes. If it’s true what German author/ poet Christian Morgenstern once said that, “home is not where you live but where they understand you” then it’s safe to say that Jamii Bora Makao is on the right track.