GHANA is set to get more than 9,000 housing units to help bridge the country’s expanding housing gap.

Last week, Water Resources, Works and Housing minister, Collins Dauda announced that Ghana will receive 9,120 housing units after a deal was struck with Credit Suisse and Barclays Bank for a $400 million loan for the construction.

A total of 5,000 of the units will be built by Brazilian company Construtora OAS for $200 million and the remaining 4,120 will be constructed by Ghana’s Italconstruct International for a total cost of $200 million. The cost of the units begin at $25,000, about N3.9million.

This will be the biggest housing development scheme since 1957 when the country gained its independence, k as only 150,000 low cost housing units have been built. The deficit of 1.7mn housing units puts particular pressure on urban areas, where there is a population boom.

In Greater Accra, the population swelled from 491,817 in 1960 to 2,905,726 in 2000, and then to 4 million in 2010. An average of 85,000 units need to be built over the next 20 years to fill the country’s housing gap.

The announcement comes more than a year after the demise of a controversial deal between the Ghanaian government and South Korean company STX Korea for the construction of 30,000 housing units for security personnel at a cost of $1.5bn.

The conditions and size of the STX deal sent alarm bells ringing among Ghanaians.

A former legislator with the ruling National Democratic Congress told    The Africa Report that the sheer number of units meant that it was an impossible task.

“Even if we used Takoradi [port] as well as Tema the containers carrying the necessary materials would be backed up for weeks.”

The construction of the 9,120 housing units is part of government’s affordable housing project.

About 500 semi-detached and detached houses built by Ghanaian company Blue Rose are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Preparatory works towards the construction of 5,000 affordable housing units by the government is underway at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.

This came to light when Dauda, paid a visit to the construction site of OAS Construtora from Brazil, the company carrying out the project.

The visit by the Minister, revealed that the construction firm was in the process of constructing its site before the commencement of the housing project.

Mr. Andrew Clocanas, Executive Chairman of OAS Ghana said the firm is setting up its factory and other plants, training and maintenance unit, clinic, ware house and canteen to ensure a smooth work.

He assured that the company would finish the various constructions at the site by the end of October this year to pave way for the commencement of the project.

The minister said the construction of the affordable housing scheme is in fulfillment of government promise to provide shelter to Ghanaians.

He said the construction firm is expected to build 5,000 housing units across the ten regions of Ghana.

“This housing project is a revolving one because, as the houses are built and sold out, the amount being accrued would be used to build additional houses and it must be put on record that the houses would be sold to any Ghanaian who can afford it”,he said.

2013-10-21