The National Treasury of Kenya has issued Requests for Qualifications for three public-private partnerships concerning university student accommodation. The projects will add more than 23,400 beds to Moi University (MU), South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) and the University of Embu (UoEm).

The Treasury seeks private partners who will design, build, finance and operate new hostels at each university to accommodate students. These hostels are set to have furnished rooms, tuck shops, study areas and food supply facilities. Separate procurement processes will be conducted for each of the institutions. 

Through these projects, UoEm will raise its accommodation capacity by 4,000 beds, SEKU will add 5,400 beds while MU will get an additional 14,000.

The universities are seeking private investors to partner with in the development of student hostels to reduce student accommodation shortage and eliminate the exploitation of students.

The deficit in student accommodation was initially planned to be tackled through establishing private hostels off university campuses. However, real estate developers have taken advantage of the high demand by developing substandard accommodation for students.

The deadline to submit qualifications is 28 February 2018. For more information on each RFQ, see the corresponding Business Opportunity:

• University of Embu
• South Eastern Kenya University
• Moi University