Increased investment in construction, as Covid-19 ravaged the country, saved a portion of the economy last year, creating thousands of new job opportunities as other sectors suffered.
The construction, which ranged from roads, railway lines and houses, provided a lifeline to over 60,000 Kenyans, as many shifted to building works to earn a living.
The Economic Survey 2021 reports that wage employment in the construction sector grew by 33 per cent from 173,300 persons in 2019 to 230,500 persons in 2020.
“Employment level in the public sector rose by 3 per cent from 8,832 persons in 2019 to 9,093 persons in 2020, while private sector employment recorded 34.5 per cent increase from 164,500 persons in 2019 to 221,400 persons in 2020,” the report states.
This came even as the housing sector recorded improved activity, where The State Department for Housing and the National Housing Corporation completed 2,670 units of public residential buildings, with the value of completed public buildings increasing from Sh1.5 billion in 2019 to Sh9 billion. The value of completed private buildings in Nairobi City County also increased by 6.4 per cent from Sh94 billion in 2019 to Sh100 billion in 2020.
The construction sector registered a total growth of 11.8 per cent in 2020 compared to 5.6 per cent in 2019. The sector captured infrastructural investment in roads, railway, ports, housing and other sectors.
“Cement consumption, a key input to construction activities rose significantly from 6.1 million tonnes in 2019 to 7.4 million tonnes in 2020, representing an increase of 21.3 per cent,” the report observed.
Among the key infrastructural projects that were ongoing last year is the ongoing construction of the Nairobi Expressway, which is a 108-kilometre lane-length road, with a construction cost of Sh63.8 billion. The road was 16.6 per cent complete as at December 31, 2020.
The construction of a 2.1 kilometres floating bridge across the Likoni Channel was also completed at a cost of Sh2 billion, while the Kibwezi–Kitui–Migwani road was at 73 percent completion as at December 31, 2020.
The report shows that by June last year, the total length of paved (under bitumen) roads was 22.6 thousand kilometres, an increase of 1.8 per cent from 22.2 thousand kilometres in June 2019.
The government, however, cut the budget for roads by 18.5 per cent, from Sh207.2 billion in 2019/20 to Sh168.9 billion in 2020/21.