Grete Faremo, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director-UNOPS.
The United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) has pledged to rally the public and private sectors in Ghana for infrastructural development, particularly affordable homes.
The Executive Director of UNOPS, Crete Faremo, made the pledge yesterday when Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cut sod for the construction of a landmark 6,500 homes at Amasaman as part of the UNOPS and Sustainable Housing Solutions (SHS)100,000 affordable housing scheme.
According to her, “The project will improve thousands of lives; it will provide thousands of local jobs and support sustainable economy.”
“… This is a game changer. We are bridging the gap between private investment and development infrastructure.We plan to build 850,000 affordable homes,” she said.
The total value of the project in Ghana alone is more than $5 billion, she added.
Global Housing Units
UNOPS is expected to build about 850,000 homes across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and it is the largest affordable housing scheme the world has ever seen.
In Asia, India and Pakistan are the two beneficiaries while Ghana and Kenya are benefitting in Africa.
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 about $5.3 billion to construct the affordable houses across the country.
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.
It 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 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 ‘turnkey solution’ to reduce the current shortfall of tens of millions of decent dwellings.
BY Melvin Tarlue