Real Estate Firm Optiven Joins NSE’s Ibuka Programme

Real estate firm Optiven Limited on Thursday, April 29 became the 23rd company to join the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) Ibuka accelerator programme.

Optiven describes itself as a leading brand in the African real estate sector with its objectives being to empower property investors and transform societies. It was founded 20 years ago, and is behind real estate projects in counties including Machakos, Kajiado and Kiambu.

The firm’s flagship product is transformed value added plots which are enhanced to suit immediate residential settlement, commercial purposes and futuristic capital gain.

Optiven CEO George Wachiuri welcomed the addition of Optiven to the programme, stating that it aligned with their plans to grow and create more opportunities for Kenyans. He cited the firm’s 20-year experience as evidence of their long-term growth prospects.

“It is an exciting time for the Optiven Group as we stand to be game changers in these fields.  I am confident that together we are going to compete at next level basis while achieving our key objective of working with the Ibuka team to enable us develop our capabilities.

“After 20 years we are confident too that our operations will signal a definite growth patterns to showcase the difference that we have had in the market,” he stated.

Since its launch in 2018, Ibuka has brought on board several small to mid-sized enterprises deemed to have high growth potential. The program was introduced as a way of ending the worrying listings drought at the bourse in recent years.

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Aside from allowing companies to develop capabilities to access the capital markets, Ibuka also enables them to grow their visibility, brand recognition and explore new business opportunities.

Among the firms in the accelerator program are Mookh Africa, APT Commodities, Safaricom Investment Co-operative, Myspace Properties and Saracen Media Group.

Under Ibuka, a firm is admitted to the incubator board in the first phase and then progresses to the accelerator board, where it can raise capital through debt and equity market.  The company is mandated to also track valuation as well as produce specialized documents such as capital raising and equity raising reports.

Eventually, such a company could qualify to list on the bourse, although it is still free to drop out before doing so. NSE chief executive Geoffrey Odundo says companies already in the program are at different stages of compliance as the program is helping the companies meet the required terms.

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