By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Namibai’s Minister of Urban and Rural Development, James Sankwasa, has disclosed that the government is making moves to address 88% of the country’s inherited housing challenges, particularly the prevalence of urban informal settlements.
Namibia’s Housing minister spoke over the weekend during the Africa Housing Awards and industry end-of-year dinner organized by the Africa International Housing Show (AIHS).
Sankwasa said about 88 percent of Namibia’s urban residents live in informal settlements, making it impossible for the government alone to address the housing shortage.
He said Namibia has also embarked on aggressive upgrades from sanitation, water, to road infrastructure, while also introducing policies that allow civil servants to access their pension contributions to build homes.
On addressing housing challenges, James Sankwasa, who received the Minister for Housing of the Year 2025 award, said Africa has reached a point where it must recognize and celebrate its development efforts.
“Africa’s problems should be solved with African solutions,” Sankwasa said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa stated that the Nigerian government is addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit through a structured urban renewal and slum-upgrade intervention.
The minister said housing could no longer be treated as a peripheral issue in Africa, noting that it sits at the intersection of economic growth, social stability, urban resilience, and human dignity.
“Across Africa today, about 54 million people live in urban slums, and the continent faces a housing shortfall of at least 50 million units, with a financing gap estimated at over $1.4 trillion,” he said.
Dangiwa warned that Africa’s housing deficit could reach about 130 million units by 2030 if solutions are not accelerated, stressing that platforms such as the Africa International Housing Show are critical for advocacy, accountability, and sustained policy attention.
Commending the organizers, he said the awards and end-of-year dinner were not isolated ceremonies but the culmination of a year-long engagement designed to encourage excellence and challenge governments and industry players to deliver measurable outcomes.
Speaking on Nigeria’s efforts, Dangiwa said President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda had repositioned housing from isolated projects to a structured national programme focused on scale and systems.
“Nigeria’s housing deficit is conservatively estimated at over 17 million units, but we are responding with scale. In the past two years, we have commenced over 10,000 housing units across 14 states and the FCT. Through our urban renewal and slum upgrade efforts, we have already impacted more than 150 communities with critical infrastructure,” he said.
He added that no country could solve its housing challenges alone, calling for a continental approach anchored on land governance reform, bankable housing finance, strong local building materials value chains, climate-smart construction, and disciplined urban planning.
“The African housing agenda must be treated as a continental productivity agenda,” the minister said, pledging Nigeria’s commitment to partnerships, reforms, and cross-border cooperation.
Barr. Festus Adebayo, Chief Executive Officer and Convener of AIHS, said the housing and construction sector remained a major driver of growth, job creation, and national development across Africa and vowed zero tolerance for scammers in the industry.
Adebayo said the awards were established to recognize innovation, leadership, and integrity in the sector, while also promoting professionalism and a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and unethical practices.
“Our sector is involved in new technologies, safety regulations, global economic pressures, and environmental challenges. Continue to influence the way we work. We must clearly recognize these changes, monitor indust
