5 real estate investments Kenya could be missing as EAC cities expand Kenya’s property market is creating opportunities beyond the traditional bet on apartments and land, with affordable housing, logistics, data centres, student accommodation and green buildings emerging as investment segments to watch. A new Real Estate Investment in Africa report identifies these sectors as opportunities that could benefit from Africa’s rapid urbanisation, infrastructure expansion, digital transformation, and changing housing needs. The shift is particularly relevant to Kenya, where the real estate market is projected to grow at a 5.1 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2029. The report estimates Kenya’s property market at about $773 billion (Ksh100.03 trillion), making it one of the continent’s major real estate markets. For investors, the opportunity could increasingly lie in property linked to jobs, technology, transport and population growth, rather than simply buying land and waiting for prices to rise. Affordable housing Kenya’s housing shortage remains one of the clearest opportunities in the report. The report estimates that Kenya has a housing deficit of about 2 million units, while annual demand is approximately 200,000 units. It identifies affordable housing as a major mid-market opportunity, supported by urbanisation and diaspora investment. This creates room for developers targeting workforce and lower-middle-income households rather than only high-end buyers. The report says investors should focus on workforce and lower-middle-income segments and build at scale to address unmet demand. The opportunity also extends beyond Nairobi as satellite towns and peri-urban areas expand alongside new infrastructure. Logistics warehouses Warehousing is another property segment that could benefit from Kenya’s expanding economy and regional trade. The report records 83 per cent occupancy for modern warehouses in Kenya, highlighting strong demand for logistics space. It links the wider African logistics-property opportunity to e-commerce, manufacturing and supply-chain expansion. That makes