Kigali, 2 November 2020:  Minister of Infrastructure, Honourable Claver Gatete delivered a keynote address to the African Union for Housing Finance Virtual Conference themed “Investing in the SDG’s: Finding a market opportunity in affordable housing”.

The 36th annual African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) Virtual Conference was conducted online in five days; 02-06 November 2020.  

The conference attracted public and private sector delegates including; hundreds of senior African and international investors, lenders, policy makers, regulators, developers, and donor agencies from over 50 countries. The forum is expected to provide a seamless experience for professionals looking to connect across time zones, share ideas and build towards achieving the SDGs, in the post Covid-19 era.

 ​As minister comments; the solutions to improve the supply of affordable housing should include public-private partnerships, financial sector regulatory and mortgage banking development, as well as improved infrastructure and urban planning. He highlighted that, in Rwanda, it is estimated that every job created in housing sector can result in the creation of 6 to 8 indirect jobs in related sectors, such as finance, services, construction or manufacturing. In this, he wanted to emphasise on the importance of the conference which is aligned with Sustainable Development goals of ending poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity.

The affordable housing agenda is chiefly meant to improve the quality of life for the people of Africa’ and ‘Industrialize Africa.’ Every member country should ensure having access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing as  part of Sustainable Development Goal #11, which commits the global community to making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, Minister Gatete said.

As stressed by various reports globally, by 2030, the global population will reach over 8 billion, with almost 60 percent living in cities. On the same note, urbanization is happening everywhere, but the transition is especially rapid in sub-Saharan Africa and some other developing economies”, Minister added.

Rwanda’s target is to become upper middle income country by 2035 and high income country by 2050 with urbanization rate of 70%, he noted that at least 310,000 new housing units need to be constructed in Rwanda by 2032, implying an annual demand of over 26,000 new units.

“For the urban areas, the demand is estimated to be over 80,000units in the next 10years, meaning 8,000 units/year”, he highlighted, adding that “in order to achieve the 2030 goal, the world needs to build 300 million new housing units which will require a vast investment, that governments alone cannot shoulder”.

He noted that to achieve the target of adequate, safe and affordable housing for all requires a systemic approach to establishing the right legal, regulatory, and market environment for the efficient deployment of private and public capital.

“Solutions to improve the supply chain of affordable housing should include public-private partnerships, financial sector regulatory and mortgage banking development, as well as improved infrastructure and urban planning”, Minister Gatete noted.

The African Union for Housing Finance Virtual Conference provides an opportunity for participants to debate substantial investment in affordable housing, the market growth and opportunities in green development, infrastructure building, services, job and inclusive economic growth.