Stakeholders commit to green, affordable housing

• Seek private, public sector developers’ commitment

Key players and critical stakeholders in the housing sector have committed to providing green and affordable housing in Africa.

Africa generally, and Nigeria in particular, is facing a housing challenge. Nigeria is grappling with a deficit of about 28 million.

The operators in the sector, who made the commitment through a declaration at the end of the 17th Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) held in Abuja, said it was crucial for the sector to also contribute to the efforts at reduction of carbon footprint.

The declaration, signed by the chairman of the AIHS Board, Alhaji Suleiman Hassan, stated, “We, housing practitioners and stakeholders in the African housing sector, having met with colleagues from the public, private and NGO sectors from 15 countries over four days, express our commitment to work together towards ensuring access to green, affordable housing for all Africans.”

The operators, in the communiqué, lamented that after almost half a century since independence, a significant proportion of Africans, especially those on low and medium incomes, do not have access to good quality housing they can afford. They stressed that about 70% of people living in sub-Saharan Africa continue to live in informal settlements.

They called for action to deliver more homes to Africans, adding that, “There is very limited awareness of the urgent need to build green and reduce carbon emission arising from the housing development process. This is critical in the face of increasing negative impact of climate change and the disproportionate effect on low and medium income households.”

They, therefore, urged the government to, as a matter of deliberate policy, embark on “aggressive” urban planning to improve infrastructure as a way of encouraging indigenous professionals in the design and delivery of affordable housing.

“We call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to formally adopt the National Housing Strategy launched in May 2023 and require states and relevant government agencies, including the Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Authority, to develop a clear implementation plan under the management of a Presidential Delivery Unit. We urge the PDU to publish performance against targets quarterly using relevant but accessible media.

“We call on all stakeholders to support change towards adopting more sustainable and environmentally friendly housing construction, servicing and maintenance practices. We urge private and public sector developers to commit to a move towards net zero targets in new housing developments.

“Furthermore, we urge providers to embrace green certification processes such as the IFC Edge on new developments.”