Nairobi, March 7 -- Graeme Reid and Henry Musangi run Tilisi Development Company with good humour, something of flair and combined experience of 50 years.

Mr Reid, the chief executive since last year, and Mr Musangi, the chief architect, have worked at Tilisi for more than a decade, forging a robust bond that has steered the development company to its current successes.

Mr Reid is a trained human rights lawyer who had worked with civic movements on housing in South Africa before coming to Kenya in 2010. He settled in the country a year later.

"In the private sector, my work has focused on mixed-use mixed-income developments, which is why I came to Kenya," he says.

Before coming on board full-time last year, Mr Reid had consulted for T...