By CTW and Acorn Holdings Team

USIU-Africa signed a nomination agreement with Qwetu Student Residences for the provision of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) for USIU-Africa students. This is a first of its kind agreement which will provide up to 1,200 PBSA beds across 2 properties for the university.

Qwetu provides a clean, safe, secure and conducive environment for students to excel in their studies, which will complement the university’s first-class, quality academic and research facilities.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, which also marked the official opening of 697-bed Qwetu Aberdare Heights located along USIU-Road, off Thika Road, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza noted that this partnership has come at a time when the university was planning to increase its current student accommodation options.

“USIU-Africa is proud to be associated with Qwetu Student Residences. They provide high-quality student accommodation, which complements our focus on providing students with a high-quality teaching and learning experience. This is also in line with our efforts to build mutually beneficial partnerships with various service providers, which allows us to concentrate on our core mandate. Together, we are a right fit,” he said.

The existing capacity for student accommodation in Kenya is limited with majority of higher institutions only catering to approximately 20% of their student population. In addition, Kenya is undergoing rapid urbanization with 40 million new people expected to move into urban centers in the next 30 years. This rapid urbanization combined with a large youth population is driving a massive and acute need for student accommodation that is clean, safe, conducive, amenable, and yet affordable.

The CEO of Acorn Holdings Limited, Mr. Edward Kirathe, noted that: “Universities in Kenya have been struggling with inadequate accommodation which has not kept up with the rate of student enrolment over the past 30 years. The core business of universities is to provide excellent academic and research facilities and in many parts of the world, university accommodation is now provided by the private sector. It is clear that this kind of partnership and nomination agreement is the future for the provision of student accommodation for both public and private universities across Africa. We are seeing that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for quality education and accommodation is growing in Africa, driven by the significant wave of young people finishing high school which continues to grow year on year. It is therefore our intention to continue engaging universities to adopt this type of partnership in order to quickly meet the ever-increasing need for student accommodation.”

Under this nomination agreement, USIU-Africa will refer their students to reside at Qwetu, while Qwetu will provide support for several of the university’s programs and initiatives.