George Mutua
George Mutua, a Kenyan entrepreneur has turned factory-poured concrete panels into a fast-track answer to East Africa’s housing crunch. In 2017 he and his wife liquidated savings, sold a car and stitched together KSh 20 million in loans to launch Global Precast Panels; their proof-of-concept—a three-bedroom home in Meru assembled in days, not months, went viral and unlocked a pipeline of schools, churches and apartment blocks from Kisumu to Kampala. Mutua’s off-site moulding system cuts build costs by up to 25 percent and slashes onsite waste, advantages that proved lifesaving during the COVID-19 surge when his crews erected isolation wards and staff quarters in record time.
Today the company employs more than 50 people, many promoted from internship to site foreman, and operates mobile casting yards that have crossed into Uganda and Tanzania. Recognition followed: Business Daily named Mutua to its 2023 Top 40 Under 40 list for “redefining what is buildable on an African budget.” He is now courting impact investors to scale a solar-powered precast plant and experimenting with rice-husk ash to lighten panels and shrink their carbon footprint. Mutua’s vision is clear: make durable, affordable structures as easy to order as merchandise, so cities can grow without repeating yesterday’s construction bottlenecks.