BEVERLY HILLS, CA, NOVEMBER 03, (THEWILL) – Chairman of the First Rotech Group, an estate development firm, Chief Austin Oguejiofor has asked African leaders to develop housing policies that will encourage estate developers to help the process of providing affordable housing accommodation to their citizens in the continent.
Oguejiofor, who made the call at the commissioning of over 2,000 housing units at the Luxury’s Place Estate in Abuja, noted the huge housing deficit facing the sub-region and said that the trend was unprecedented.
He warned that except various governments in the continent take the issue of provision of housing serious; development would continue to elude Africa.
He argued that shortage of housing was one of the factors responsible for the poor environmental quality across the sub-region, adding that, “in the twenty first century, millions of Africans are still homeless while many others are living in indecent houses.”
According to him, even where houses are available, affordability remains a major challenge in Africa, because of factors such as poverty, lack of long-term financing, land management systems and rising cost of building materials.
To address this trend, the real estate mogul advised further that governments should appropriate key issues in housing development, particularly, management of grants from the World Bank to the major players in the sector.
Oguejiofor noted that housing and urban infrastructure had not been a high priority for international donors apart from the World Bank which he said, had been the largest donor in the sector.
He recalled that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) implemented the successful Housing Guarantee, HG, loan program for almost 30 years until it was discontinued in 2000.
He argued that, “if key players are allowed to utilize such grants from the World Bank, the Sub-Saharan Africa will experience demographic changes where people will be moving to the cities at unprecedented rates, and Africa will be more urban than rural by 2030.
“African cities will have to accommodate more than 300 million new residents over the next 25 years. Urbanization in Africa, unlike in other regions of the world, has not reduced overall poverty.
“In African cities and towns, poverty rates have actually increased and in several of the region’s most populous countries, urban poverty rates are now close to those in rural areas. Efforts to reduce overall poverty must therefore increasingly focus on urban, not rural, areas.
“To address the challenges posed by the unprecedented deficit, African national and local governments and their international development partners, working with the private sector, must create the political will; make essential policy reforms; significantly upgrade human and institutional capacity; and mobilize a quantum increase in financial resources for urban areas for housing and essential urban services.”
Housing, he said was a key component of urban development.
“Improved housing is not only a desirable goal in its own right, but it also contributes to economic growth, social development, improved governance and enhanced security and stability”, he added.
According to him, housing, construction and upgrading are major sources of employment, particularly for the unskilled poor. Improved housing and urban services, he argued could also have a major impact on the health of the urban poor.
He said: “They can play a constructive role in the strengthening and spread of community, civic, and democratic values, which in turn enhance social stability and personal security. Failure to deal with housing issues will lead to the continued growth of slums and poorly serviced informal settlements on the urban periphery.
“The efforts of African governments and international donors have barely impacted the need for new and improved housing and for essential urban services, particularly for low and moderate income families. Very little new housing is actually being built or improved by the formal sector.”
On legal encumbrance, he charged African countries to tackle important legal and regulatory constraints that have traditionally restrained private sector housing production.
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