The National Treasury has given the University of Nairobi (UoN) the go-ahead to develop student hostels with a total capacity of 4,000 beds under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
“The feasibility study for the project was completed in October 2024. The feasibility study report was approved in February 2025, and the project was granted approval to progress to the procurement of a private party,” the PPP Directorate at the National Treasury said.
The hostels will be built under a 30-year design, build, finance, operate and transfer PPP model. This means that the private firm picked will handle all the aspects of the project, from design to operation, before transferring the assets back to the university.
The UoN Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) project will include a new 2,000-bed hostel on the main campus and 1,000-bed hostels at Chiromo and Kenyatta Medical.
The UoN hostels project is backed by the National Treasury and the Private Infrastructure Development Group Limited (PIDG Ltd)—an infrastructure development and finance organisation funded by six governments, including the UK, and the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation.
A consortium led by Crisil Limited is acting as the transaction advisor for the hostels project.
Records show that the UoN currently has a student accommodation capacity of 9,863 beds across eight campuses. This includes 5,386 beds for male students, 3,346 beds for female students and 1,131 beds in mixed-use hostels.
Three of the eight campuses are at full capacity. In addition, the two medical school campuses have 100 percent occupancy - Chiromo and Kenyatta Medical. However, medical students have a particular need for quality accommodation close to the hospitals where they receive their clinical training.
“The proposed project is, therefore, expected to enhance UoN’s student accommodation capacity with an additional 4,000 beds,50 percent of which will be made available for the exclusive use of medical students thus contributing to the critical area of medical education and the associated healthcare sector,” the Treasury and PIGD said in a brief on the hostel project.
They said UoN's main campus was preferred for the largest hostel project because of its central location and availability of land for expansion.
“Post 2020, the growth rate in university enrolment is forecasted at 6.5 percent per annum. In addition, it is estimated that the countrywide demand for PBSA beds is approximately 600,000 while the supply is an estimated 280,000 beds, thus an unmet need in the order 320,000 beds,” the Treasury and PIGD added in a brief.
In Kenya, Acorn Holdings Limited, the developer of the Qwetu and Qejani brands, is a pioneer in developing modern PBSA projects, driven by the growing student enrolments. Acorn’s combined portfolio of operating and development student beds now stands at 21,000.
