David Mathu
Kenyan quantity surveyor David Mathu has turned the National Housing Corporation into a pace-setter for the country’s affordable-homes drive. Appointed managing director at 39, he inherited a pipeline mired in stalled estates and cost overruns; five years on, NHC’s project roster has tripled, with 12,000 new units under construction and another 20,000 in structured joint ventures with county governments and pension funds. Mathu’s blueprint pairs disciplined cost-engineering with bold financing: he introduced bulk-procurement frameworks that shave up to 15 percent off build costs, unlocked bond and sukuk financing to reduce reliance on Treasury cash, and brokered land-swap deals that convert idle public plots into mixed-income neighborhoods anchored by transport links and green spaces.
Beyond bricks and spreadsheets, Mathu has insisted on skills transfer. His talent-development pact with the Kenya National Construction Authority now funnels 200 young quantity surveyors and site managers through NHC sites each year, while a digital quality-assurance platform he championed is becoming the industry benchmark. Next on his agenda are 3D-printed pilot homes, an energy-efficient materials lab, and a regional housing fund that could replicate Kenya’s model across East Africa. In Mathu’s hands, affordable housing is no longer a campaign promise, it’s a scalable engine of socio-economic mobility.