Affordable housing in Nigeria coming soon

13th Feb 2015 Nigerians will have more access to affordable housing, according to Lafarge Africa Plc, a leading sub-Saharan Africa building solutions provider and Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African housing and development institution. The organisations recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will facilitate access to affordable housing for those with low incomes in the country.

The agreement will commence with the development of identified sites at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and will be for an initial period of four years. Under the terms of the MOU, the areas of cooperation between the two organizations will include providing help in defining the best construction technologies for the buildings and micro-financing projects in addition to the supply of cement and concrete products for projects.

Mr. Guillaume Roux, the Group MD/CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc was quoted at the signing ceremony as saying that “this initiative is in furtherance of Lafarge’s objective of complementing government’s efforts to boost national development through improved infrastructure, industrialization and economic growth. Our commitment to bring more housing and better solutions to contribute to building better cities in Nigeria will be enhanced with the implementation of this agreement, which represents a new major step in our affordable housing programme.”

The Managing Director, and spokesman for Shelter Afrique, Mr. James Mugerwa, who was at the occasion, is quoted as saying “we once again show that we are always keen on building strong partnerships and finding efficient ways to deliver affordable housing, which is a shared vision we have with Lafarge. It also shows our joint commitment to Nigeria, a very important market for affordable housing and a key player in the region.”

Since 2013, the project has provided access to decent housing for 250,000 people in 18 countries. In Nigeria, Lafarge started its affordable housing programme tagged “Ile Irorun” in October 2013, and currently has more than a thousand constructions, with more than 6000 people impacted by the scheme.