Acorn

Facilitating safe and sustainable accommodation.

• Provided support across three PIDG companies to build energy-efficient accommodation for 22.7k students with integrated gender and disability considerations.
• Kenya – LMIC and FCAS
• PIDG TA provided $276k for support on transaction costs for the bond, particularly for the green bond issuance costs on London and Nairobi $78.2m exchanges.

Background:

Acorn provides accommodation through a market-priced Qwetu brand and an affordable Qejani brand. We intend to conduct separate surveys of residents of the two different accommodation types. We started with the Qwetu residents in 2022, with plans for a follow-up survey of Qejani residents in 2023-24 when the new buildings become operational.

Survey:

136 phone interviews were carried out with residents of Acorn’s Qwetu buildings. Respondents were sampled from a larger population of Qwetu residents who opted into being surveyed after Acorn sent an opt-in shortcode via SMS.

What outcomes we have contributed to?

• All residents report feeling safe at Qwetu. This strong sense of safety is attributed to the presence of surveillance cameras, competent security staff and the use of access cards. Half of female respondents say they love the security at Qwetu.
• Nearly 80% reported an improvement in their quality of life.