The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has rolled out a $15 billion project to construct affordable houses in some countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
Ghana and Kenya are the beneficiary countries from Africa while India will also benefit from the project in India.
UNOPS is working in partnership with Sustainable Housing Solutions (SHS) to roll out the project, which comes under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN).
The partnership would see UNOPS and SHS delivering 260,000 plus high-quality affordable homes across the selected countries.
“UNOPS and SHS will begin to work on projects this year in Ghana, India, Kenya and the Caribbean to help build more than 260,000 affordable homes,” UNOPS said in a statement.
Job Opportunities
According to UNOPS, “The project will provide thousands of job opportunities for local communities, and the opportunities include projects in construction and renewable energy sectors.”
Ghana, with an estimated housing deficit of over two million, which is projected to increase to 2.2 million in a few years, will receive $5 billion to construct about 100,000 affordable houses.
Ghana’s agreement was signed in September 2018 in New York, US, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which was attended by President Akufo-Addo.
DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the partnership is dedicated to large-scale solutions to the SDGs, with a new agreement signed between UNOPS and SHS Holdings – a leading provider of high-quality, affordable living solutions, focused on resilience and sustainability.
The partnership is the latest step in the UNOPS Social Impact Investing Initiative (S3I), which aims to attract financing from the private sector to develop projects in emerging markets.
The agreement aims to utilize proven innovative technology to accelerate large-scale construction projects in some of the world’s most challenging environments.
The technology is earthquake and hurricane resistant and constituent with the utilization of renewable energy and non-toxic insect-repellent properties.
The concept aims at providing a ‘turn-key solution’ to reduce the current shortfall of tens of millions of decent dwellings.
The new partnership will also explore new opportunities in the renewable market, with UNOPS expected to work with MYRA-SHS Energy, a subsidiary of SHS, which focuses on investments in renewable energy projects and associated infrastructure.
UNOPS Executive Director, Grete Faremo, said: “The Sustainable Development Goals call for new and bold partnerships. We now bring together expertise, ideas and financing from a broad range of partners – including governments, the public sector and also the private sector. By working together, sharing the same goals, we can begin to make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Director of SHS Holdings, Dr. Allen Zimbler, on his part, stated that “we are proud to partner with UNOPS and work alongside other world-class partners to resolve the significant housing crisis in the developing world and beyond. This is a unique legacy project that will also ensure positive environmental, social and economic impact, create thousands of jobs and boost livelihoods.”
By Melvin Tarlue