The role of tech in affordable housing.

The global housing crisis is at a tipping point.

The world’s population is expected to swell to 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100 according to the United Nations. Africa’s population stands currently at 1.216 billion and is the world’s youngest. These young people are driving a growing urgency in the need to provide access to work, food, and housing. Now is the time to rethink how we will be able to provide sustainable and affordable shelter and accommodation to match the rising demand.

Government steps in affordable housing

Kenyan, Rwandan, Nigerian and South African governments are on the forefront, taking significant steps in solving their affordable housing crisis. The constant question is: “How do we provide safe, quality affordable housing for our citizens?”

To date, the Kenyan government has set a high benchmark for itself, with a target of building 500,000 homes in the next 5 years, up from 50,000 homes currently provided yearly.

Rwanda has set targets to complete about 2800 affordable homes, located in the Nyamirambo sector, which are expected to accommodate 14000 people as well as create hundreds of temporary and permanent jobs.

The Federal Government of Nigeria also stepped in with the first mortgage scheme to provide access to 10,000 affordable homes, under the Nigerian Housing Finance Programme, in an effort to help bridge the housing deficit.

Meanwhile, South African is expected to spend $160 million on new housing projects in the city of Cape Town, according to the Transport and Urban Development Authority.

Private sector initiatives

The idea of affordable housing is pegged on one core principle: can we build houses cheaper than we are currently so that everyone can access safe and quality shelter? With this challenge, we need a totally radical change in the whole process, from funding to execution and final completion.

The affordable housing challenge isn’t only “government-driven.”, International organizations and private corporates are extending their hand in helping to bridge the gap and fulfill the eleventh UN sustainable development goal.

In May 2019, the IFC and Chinese Multinational Construction and Engineering Company, CITIC launched a $300 million investment platform, CITICC Holding Limited, with a goal to develop affordable housing in multiple African countries. The platform will partner with local developers and provide long-term capital to build 30,000 homes over the next five years. The IFC estimates that each housing unit will create five full-time jobs, resulting in 150,000 new jobs across the continent.

Pan-African housing development financier, Shelter Afrique, announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter, the market development/system arm of Habitat for Humanity International, which will see TCIS assist Shelter Afrique in mobilizing capital for affordable housing that will be extended to institutions focusing on provision of housing loans to lower-middle-income population in Kenya and 43 other countries where Shelter Afrique has a presence. Habitat for Humanity has already invested more than $4 million in Africa from its $100 million micro-build funds that supply debt capital and technical expertise to help microfinance institutions increase the availability of housing loan products for their low-income customers.

African cities become the new home to over 40,000 people every day, many of whom find themselves without a roof over their heads. Governments, financial institutions and international + local developers have a pressing need to develop the local property sector, both to provide new and affordable housing and to encourage an industry that requires significant building materials and has the potential to be a major employer.

What is the role of technology in affordable housing?

Due to innovations in technology, a lot of progress has been made in creating modern building materials.

These new innovations are different from the traditional “and expensive” brick and mortar options.

Building technologies such as cement-coated expanded polystyrene (EPS) panels instead of conventional stones has gained a lot of traction on the continent. This technology entails building homes by assembling ready-made EPS foam, sandwiched between a wire mesh that is sealed on both sides with concrete. Despite its lightweight, a modular house is strong enough to defy natural calamities better than homes built using stones. The technology offers other benefits such as thermal insulation, which makes the houses comfortable regardless of temperature changes. Projects built using the panels have reported costs that are lower by about 25%, with construction time cut into half.

The use of local materials has been encouraged through innovations such as Durabric bricks, which are produced from a mixture of earth and cement, compressed in a mold, and left naturally to cure without firing. This process saves up to 14 trees per house, according to the CDC Investment Works Group. By avoiding this firing phase, Durabric reduces greenhouse gas emissions tenfold.

These innovations, applied correctly, will be effective in cutting costs for large-scale construction projects, potentially enabling more affordable housing projects to be initiated.

With increased financial support and large complex projects being initiated across the continent, the remaining piece is field execution.

The building and construction industry, which is notoriously traditional, has been moving at a slow pace in picking and adopting technology that will assist in better management. The industry numbers are also dire: Construction projects generally take 20% more time and go 80% over their set budget. If projects take longer to execute and cost more at the end, the resulting products will be of sub-standard quality and potentially become unaffordable to the millions of Africans they were intended to support.

These technology solutions not only assist in workflow efficiencies and collaboration but also in project monitoring and resource tracking. Knowing where all your materials, equipment and labor resources are and how they are being utilized could mean the difference between a successful (and profitable) project and a loss-making one. With access to a young, educated and digitally-savvy workforce, the time has never been more ideal for the adoption of these solutions.

Full utilization of fourth industrial technologies such as IoT, Internet of Things, will also bring immediate results in regards to workplace safety and more precise monitoring. Devices can now be attached to workplace attire such as helmets to monitor workers’ health and safety on-site.

These technologies all provide unique solutions that can be applied to construction sites across the continent. Future demands are growing due to the number of challenges as the continent grows and develops. This presents an opportunity to not only provide accessible shelter but also change how we build across the continent, bringing forth a new era where technologies in building materials, software and internet devices created and developed on the continent are being utilized in new ways.

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