On one side of Zaheeda Suleman-Arain’s third-floor flat in Nairobi, the noise of children playing in her compound’s swimming pool wafts in. A spacious living room opens out on to a sunny balcony filled with plants. Best of all, however, is something apparent only in the title deeds: it belongs to her.

Home ownership was long an unattainable dream for middle-class Kenyans such as Ms Suleman-Arain. Recently, however, banks in Africa have launched aggressive moves to expand their mortgage businesses – just as housing markets in the US and parts of Europe falter. Last August she and her husband secured a Ks5.7m ($92,000, £47,000, €58,000) 20-year loan from Barclays Kenya, which is issuing a Ks5bn corporate bond to fund its ambitions in the sector.