RMB assists Improvon with funding for Nairobi Gate Industrial Park

MEDIA RELEASE

28 NOVEMBER 2023

RMB helps Improvon take strides in unlocking Africa’s potential with funding for Nairobi Gate Industrial Park

RMB is assisting Improvon to roll out a class-leading logistics and industrial park in Nairobi, Kenya, with a flexible USD funding solution to enable the further development of the Nairobi Gate Industrial Park.

The Nairobi Gate Industrial Park is the first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in East Africa that has a fully integrated customs control area, helping to improve turnaround times for imports and exports, streamline and simplify processes to reduce costs and enhance competitiveness, enhance security, and support the development of local industry. SEZ status offers a number of fiscal benefits for developers and tenants alike, including corporate tax reductions for a period of 10 years, zero-rated VAT, a rate reduction in withholding tax and preferential import duty, excise and Import Declaration Form (IDF) treatment.

“Improving trade logistics and infrastructure is critical in both unlocking and developing Africa’s economic potential, and as such we are proud to support this industry and endeavour, and excited to see it grow. We have taken on the role of strategic funding partner to Improvon, providing both property-level as well as fund-level solutions,” says Reinhard Winsauer, head of RMB's broader Africa Real Estate Investment Banking division.

RMB is providing a land banking solution and development funding, as well as a term facility for the take-out of the development facilities. Phase 1 of the industrial park is set on 100 acres and is designed for ultra-modern logistics, light-industrial warehousing, and distribution centres, bringing a unique ‘build to suit’ concept to Nairobi. Nairobi Gate Industrial Park is ideally situated on Kenya’s Eastern Bypass which has recently been upgraded, providing easy access to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, key arterial roads and ‘up-country’ Kenya via Thika Road and the Southern Bypass, and quick access to key logistics and transport hubs to increase supply chain efficiency.

Offering both speculative and bespoke property for rent or purchase, the park provides grade-A flexible space, robust infrastructure, generous loading facilities and volumetric capacity. It is also built with modern sustainability requirements in mind, with features including double glazing and insulation, solar power, greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting and an attenuation pond to capture run-off and storm water.

“RMB is a long-standing strategic partner to Improvon, and this transaction represents an excellent opportunity to deepen our relationship and extend it outside of South Africa. Our knowledge of the client, their strategy and their high standards has allowed us to provide the flexible solutions Improvon needs, and our facilities have played an instrumental role, providing growth capital to enable Improvon to fund the rollout of their development pipeline,” Winsauer concludes.

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