(Ecofin Agency) - IFC is planning another investment in KMRC, a Kenyan-based mortgage refinancing company. Along with other investors, the institution is helping the company raise $93 million.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has participated in a $37 million medium-term debt issue by Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC). This contribution enabled the beneficiary to raise the equivalent of KSH10.5 billion (about $93 million) in a loan that was four times oversubscribed. “This is an important milestone for KMRC as it aims to blend and diversify its sources of funds,” KMRC CEO Johnstone Oltetia (pictured) said in a statement. According to him, the oversubscription demonstrates the market's confidence in KMRC's model and strategy, and speaks to the importance of the company's mandate to increase homeownership and transform the housing sector.  KMRC's ability to gather long-term resources is critical to its business model. The institution is solving a recurring problem in African housing finance, which is being able to secure long-term resources at affordable interest rates.

Two years after it obtained its license to operate, the company has been able to raise and channel financial resources to retail finance institutions that are in turn able to lend long-term to their clients. KMRC’s shareholding is distributed among the Kenyan Ministry of Finance, the IFC, which holds 11.5% of its capital, Shelter Afrique, as well as local commercial banks and cooperative societies.