Meet Kenyan Civil Engineer Who Founded Company With KSh 20k HELB Loan

• Benmark Ng'ang'a is the founder of Lifesize Design and Build (EA) Ltd, a construction company he started in his third year
• After registering it, he designed residential and commercial buildings, selling them for between KSh 50,000 to KSh 150,000
• He revealed it took him longer to break even since he had to juggle between his studies and managing the construction company

Benmark Ng'ang'a established Lifesize Design and Build (EA) Ltd in his third year studying Civil Engineering.

Eight years later, the civil engineer is reaping the benefits of the construction company even though it took him three years to break even.

Ng'ang'a spent KSh 20,000 to start the company, capital he obtained from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

"I had set aside savings of KSh 20,000 from HELB, which I used to start the construction company," he said as reported by Daily Nation.

After registering it, he designed residential and commercial buildings, selling them for between KSh 50,000 to KSh 150,000.

“My work mostly entailed designing simple residential and commercial buildings. I did this with the supervision of one lecturer who was a registered professional engineer.

This work grew and led to a construction contract for a residential house in one of the estates in Mombasa county and a sub-contract at the SGR project,” Who Owns Kenya quoted him.

Balancing studies and business

Ng'ang'a revealed it took him longer to break even since he had to juggle between his studies and managing the construction company.

He combined design and construction and learnt project management on the way.

With time, as business picked up, he employed the youth, noting that this was the best part of the job.

Homa Bay man builds house using HELB

In related news, Chris Maoga, a former UoN student used a considerable chunk of his HELB disbursements to build a modest abode.

The Mechanical Engineering graduate says it took him over one and a half years to put up the house whose cost is upward of KSh 200,000, without the interior components being factored in.

"I started it in 2018. It was completed in early 2020. The house cost KSh 200,000. I would complement the amount with my winnings from betting. Out of the whole amount, KSh 140,000 was from the HELB loan," he told TUKO.co.ke.