Kwabena Ampofo Appiah
The Managing Director of the State Housing Company (SHC) Limited has described “Housing as a fundamental human right. Just as Ghana has a health insurance system to support healthcare delivery and a GETFund to support education, we must establish a housing fund to support affordable housing.”
According to him, “the public and private sectors must come together to find a solution that ensures everyone has access to safe and affordable housing. It is time to prioritise this issue and take action”.
Mr. Kwabena Ampofo Appiah, said this when speaking at a forum organised by the Africa Real Estate Conference and Expo 2023 held in Accra and dubbed “Challenges and Solutions in Affordable Housing in Africa”.
He noted that, “Across the continent, millions of people are struggling to find decent and affordable housing, and it is our collective responsibility to address this crisis head-on. In our quest to provide affordable housing for all, African countries have faced numerous challenges ranging from limited access to finance, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of affordable land. However, I am confident that with the right strategies and partnerships, we can overcome these obstacles and pave the way for a brighter future for ourselves and generations after us.”
Mr. Ampofo Appiah asserted that “by fostering partnerships between governments, private developers, and non-profit organisations, we can pool together our resources and expertise to create sustainable and affordable housing solutions. Advanced countries have developed noteworthy solutions in this regard. For instance, Sweden has implemented cooperative housing models, where residents collectively own and manage their housing complexes with support from the government”.
He continued that in Singapore, the government implemented the Housing and Development Board, which provides affordable public housing to its citizens.
Additionally, “we must prioritise the development of innovative financing models that cater to the needs of low-income individuals and families. This includes exploring microfinance options, public-private partnerships, and leveraging technology to streamline the mortgage application process, etc”.
He added that, “South Africa introduced the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Program, which provides subsidies to low-income earners to purchase homes whilst In Kenya, the government implemented the Affordable Housing Programme, which aims to deliver 500,000 affordable homes. These initiatives have made significant strides in addressing the housing needs of their respective populations and very much emulating across the board.”
He urged the stakeholders to invest in the necessary infrastructure to support affordable housing developments.
BY Daniel Bampoe