Kenya sinks Sh2 billion into New York consulate

Kenya has acquired a Sh2 billion office space in New York as part of a plan that will see taxpayers shoulder a Sh6.9 billion burden over the next three years to buy properties for the country’s diplomats and embassies in different world capitals.
The Foreign Affairs ministry made the purchase public through documents tabled in Parliament last week.

Kenya’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations has assumed ownership of the property it had leased for many years.
The ministry said “the purchase of office space in New York has been concluded at a cost of Sh2 billion,” and that the building is now housing both the UN mission and the consulate.
A New York real estate magazine, The Real Deal, says the property acquisition was made in January at a cost of $18.3 million (Sh1.866 billion).

This is at least Sh100 million lower than the Sh2 billion quoted by the ministry based on the prevailing exchange rates at the time.
The Kenyan shilling opened the year at Sh102.50 against the US dollar and traded at a low of Sh104 end of January, but has now bounced back to where it was at the beginning of the year.

“In the world of mid-market New York City investment sales last week (January), Kenya’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations paid $18.3 million for a commercial condominium unit at 866 United Nations Plaza,” the magazine says, adding that the “mission currently leases their offices in the same building, and this is their first real estate acquisition.”
Amina Mohamed, the Foreign Affairs secretary, did not respond to questions on the transaction.