ACCOMMODATION FOR USIU-AFRICA STUDENTS

Accommodation for USIU-AFRICA Students. PHOTO/EDNAH KIARIE

Accommodation for USIU-Africa students.

By Ednah Kiarie

The United States International

University-Africa (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 USIU-

Africa Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paul

Tiyambe Zeleza, noted: “USIUAfrica 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.”

The existing capacity for student

accommodation in Kenya is limited with

the 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 centres 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.

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