SA firm-led advisers picked in hostel plans for 34,000 students
A student fills in registration forms at a public university. PHOTO | FILE
A consortium led by South Africa’s Genesis Analytics (Pty) Ltd has been appointed to guide the process that will see five universities and colleges build hostels for 34,040 students in partnership with the private sector.
The Treasury’s Public-Private Partnership Unit (PPPU) said the consortium would undertake a feasibility study on the commercial and technical viability of the projects to be implemented by Moi University, Embu University College, Egerton University, South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) and Kenya Technical Teachers College (KTTC).
“The transaction adviser is undertaking a feasibility study consistent with the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2013 to a standard that will enable the contracting authority to establish the technical configuration, commercial attractiveness and bankability of the proposed PPP project,” it said.
Moi University aims to build seven hostel blocks to accommodate 9,880 students on a build-operate-transfer model while Embu University College hopes to develop a multi-storey hostel complex on a design, construct, finance, operate and transfer model for 4,040 students.
Egerton plans to build hostels for 6,120 undergraduates while South Eastern Kenya University will build housing units for 8, 000, a mess and entertainment rooms.
A BOT is a form of project financing a private entity finances, designs, constructs, and operate a facility for a specified period of time, after which the ownership is transferred back to the funding entity.
During the time that the project contractor operates the facility, it is allowed to charge facility users fees.
KTTC has drawn up plans for the development of hostels for 6,000 students on a PPP basis.
Rapid expansion of academic programmes has put institutions of higher learning — currently admitting nearly 70,000 freshmen a year — under immense pressure to provide additional accommodation space.
The government policy of delinking admission from bed capacity in universities and technical institutions is spurring rapid growth of property development in the country. The policy aims at mobilising private sector resources in expanding the current bed capacity, freeing learning institutions to focus on their core business of education.
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