 Kampala: a city where construction is flourishing |
Affordable housing
remains one of the crucial sectors of the Ugandan economy. The National Housing and Construction Corporation (NHCC) the state-owned
housing company is playing a vital role in the realization of the housing needs of Uganda.
Martin Kasekende, its managing director said "Government does not come to our rescue,
we use our own resources".
Established in 1979, NHCC has property worth over US $188 million. This
includes bungalows and executive flats in top residential areas such as Kololo and
Nakasero. Under a well defined policy, NHCC is offering attractive purchasing options and
a splendid opportunity to acquire a house or a partially developed site. Mr. Kasekende
said "it is one of the few corporations that exist on its own and have really grown
and have a track record of making profit. For 10 years we have had a steady management and
we pay our dividends.
The corporation in spite of tremendous achievements is earmarked for
privatization. Management has already held discussions with the Privatization Monitoring
Unit. It is acceptable to the government to return 25 % of its shares in the corporation.
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One of Uganda's other leading construction and
civil engineering firm is Rokowho
are presently engaged in 11 private projects and
6 public projects. Roko, an associate company
of two Swiss, Roehler and Kohler, has been in
building and construction industries in the East
African region for almost three decades and is
today one of Uganda's leading firms. By combining
international expertise with immense local knowledge
and experience, Roko is well qualified to serve
the construction requirements of companies seeking
to invest in Uganda's bright future. On the whole,
the company is self-sufficient in majority of
construction disciplines and provides employment
for an average 18,000 people. Mr. Rainer Kohler,
chairman of Roko said one of the best achievements
of Roko has been to completely build the Bank
of Uganda "We did everything from the beginning
to furniture, lifts and security systems"
Mr Kohler said.
The new development will be in the field of Technical
Assistance as a diversification of, and extension
of, services provided for local markets.
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