Abuja, July 24 (Mediaage NG News) – Director-General, Nigeria Country Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Lamin Barrow at the 17th edition of the Africa International Housing Show (AIHS), reiterated the need for an integrated approach to address the huge housing deficit that has hunt the Nigerian nation and Africa, especially the low income inhabitants.
Barrow said the theme of the event – Beyond Rhetoric to Homes: Making Housing Happen, cannot be more unique, considering the urgency needed in bridging Nigeria’s soaring housing deficit.
He said the discussions was therefore important to accelerate actions towards achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11 targets across the continent.
Barrow who quoted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as saying that the country’s housing deficit increased from 14 million units in 2010 to 20 million units in 2019 also added that while the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) estimated current deficit at 28 million units, the Bank of Industry (BOI) estimated that N21 trillion would be required to bridge the housing gap.
“The imperative for increasing access to adequate housing cannot be over-emphasised, he stated.
“Considering the fact that improved access to decent housing and related basic services for households have direct impacts on health, education, and productivity of the population.
“It is fair to say that to a large extent, life outcomes are linked to access to decent housing.
“So, improving the enabling environment and development of housing value chains are therefore key for Africa to achieve its ambitions for inclusive growth and socio-economic transformation”, he said.
On AfDB’s interventions, Barrow said it was informed by the goal to promote human development, which is a key focus of our High 5 strategic priority to Improve the quality of life for Africans.
He said it was also in line with AfDB’s Urban Development Strategy, which sought to support the transformation of African Cities to serve as engines of economic growth and social development.
“Urbanisation is taking place in Africa at an unprecedented pace. The UN had predicted that by 2050, African cities will grow by an additional 900 million inhabitants.
“This creates a huge need for governments, private sectors, non-governmental organisations and other key actors to increase the supply of affordable housing and invest massively in the provision of urban infrastructure services, he said.