ICDC yet to finish paying for Sh1.2bn Nairobi building

Finance House on Loita Street in Nairobi on June 4. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG

The Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) still owes Development Bank of Kenya (DBK) arrears of Sh131.97 million from the sale of the Finance House building that it bought for Sh1.2 billion, the State-owned lender has revealed in regulatory filings.

ICDC closed the deal to purchase the city building in 2019 but said it paid for it in 2020.

The State-owned long-term financier revealed in 2020 that it would subsequently sell the prime property on Nairobi’s Loita Street to a willing buyer and channel the proceeds to financing industrial, commercial and other entrepreneurial undertakings in the economy.

An ICDC executive had told the Business Daily in 2020 that the building had some encumbrances from some old insurance companies, but that they had been addressed paving the way for the payments to be concluded.

ICDC had then maintained all the sales proceeds had been disbursed to DBK, which has been battling liquidity pressures.

DBK held assets worth Sh17.28 billion and liabilities of Sh13.44 billion at the end of 2021, its financial reports show.

It recorded net earnings of Sh58.3 million in the year ending December 2021, while its total revenue stood at Sh407.5 million.

ICDC, whose existence dates back to the pre-independence period in 1954, was formed largely to fund Kenya’s industrialisation dream as well as high-potential sectors that support economic growth by providing affordable funding through debt and equity.

ICDC was two years ago merged with the Tourism Finance Corporation and Industrial Development Bank Capital Ltd to form the State-owned Kenya Development Corporation.

The KDC is mandated to play a catalytic role in Kenya’s socio-economic development by providing long-term financing and other financial, investment and business advisory services.

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