iBUILD App Launched in Kenya

Taking bold steps in disrupting the housing value chain is imperative if we wish to achieve scalability, and access to decent services for low income households. We believe iBuild’s Platform will enable low income households achieve this access”

– Kevin Chetty (Regional Director), Habitat for Humanity International

The iBUILD app was launched in Kenya on 25 January 2019, at an event at the Four Points Sheraton in Nairobi, representing an innovative effort by civil society to address the dearth of affordable housing, and a lack of residential construction activity through a customized technological solution.

Kenyans are savvy with technology, have one of the highest national smart phone penetration rates and are in desperate need -like so many other countries in the world-of new, innovative and scalable affordable housing solutions.

• – Nancy Welsh (Chief Communications Officer & Co-Founder) iBUILD

The iBuild app is a mobile-based platform which connects customers with service providers in the construction industry. The app connects people who want to build with skilled contractors and service providers in their area. Users can manage all aspects of the project – from basic repairs to new home construction – on the platform, which offers a one-stop system for selecting and bidding projects to contractors, creating milestones for payments, and verifying work completion prior to payment. An internal wallet system has been developed for the platform and is attached to individual M-PESA accounts for ease, security, and transparency, even for incremental projects. At the end of projects, customers would have the opportunity to rate and comment on the contractor’s reliability and skill.

The platform also increases convenience and efficiency for contractors.  Contractors can hire and pay workers through the iBUILD app and the platform becomes a vibrant marketplace for contractors to bid on new projects, connect with construction professionals, find suppliers, make payments and hire workers. Balancing multiple projects and all of the associated details and records are done with ease with the iBUILD app.

Lastly, the platform offers work and employment stability and predictability for workers who can apply for and find work where it is available:

There are millions of capable construction industry professionals around the country and joining iBUILD is the best most secure way to transact. No more losing money by transporting cash to and from job sites. No more doing work without getting paid. No more picking up fundis on street corners or fighting your way through crowds of fundis looking for work at the entrance to your job sites. And customers can now search and find qualified and certified contractors- verified, rated- with a full history of their iBUILD construction projects.

• – Nancy Welsh (Chief Communications Officer & Co-Founder) iBUILD

Through its innovative approach, the iBUILD app aspires to ignite housing construction and capacity for both developers and homeowners, and organise a hybrid value chain of industry professionals and services in the country. The platform’s complete functionality is to be introduced to the Kenyan market in stages. Currently, modules for home-owners, contractors, and workers are available from the initial launch on 26 January 2019, and can be downloaded here.

iBuild is also being developed in a number of additional countries, including:

• India, where iBuild has entered into a partnership with Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited;
• South Africa, where iBuild is partnering with Sofala Capital and IBUILD Home Loans, to launch iBUILD in 2019;
• Nigeria, where efforts are underway to develop a joint venture partnership for West Africa; and
• Indonesia, where iBuild is collaborating with a number of government ministries and institutions to develop platforms and systems to enable a more effective, transparent and expedient housing program management that responds to demand at the local level.

Click here to learn more about the iBUILD platform.