Access to affordable and decent housing: a priority for sustainable urbanization in Africa

By Par Monceyf Fadili  and Prudence Adjanohoun

This article aims to contribute to the debate within the framework of the first African Urbanization Forum, “Sustainable Urbanization for the Transformation of Africa – Agenda 2063” (Addis Ababa, September 4-6, 2024), organized by the African Union with the support of UN-Habitat and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). It presents a reflection on the right to affordable and decent housing for all in Africa, authored by Monceyf Fadili, an international expert in urban planning and territorial development and former UN-Habitat Advisor, and Prudence Adjanohoun, Secretary General of the Réseau Habitat et Francophonie and Project Manager at the Union Sociale pour l’Habitat.

Africa is moving toward irreversible urbanization. With 1.4 billion inhabitants in 2023, including 600 million in cities, the continent is expected to have 50% urban population by 2030 and 70% by 2050, in the context of urban transformation and growing challenges. With 12 cities of over 4 million inhabitants and 3 cities of over 10 million, Africa is experiencing the urbanization of poverty: more than 60% of city dwellers live in informal settlements, a major component of housing in cities and megacities such as Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Kinshasa, Lagos, Cairo, and Nairobi. Synonymous with exclusion, urban division, and the failure of public policies, informal settlements and slums also pose a threat to the political and social stability of cities. However, these cities represent an opportunity for Africa (70 to 80% of GDP), provided that governments equip themselves to harness this urban growth for sustainable urbanization.

Access to Housing for All: A Priority Challenge

The right to development as a “universal and inalienable right, an integral part of fundamental human rights” (United Nations) applies to housing, in the face of violations, forced evictions, and abusive expropriations. This right was adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements – Habitat II (1996), committing states to “ensure adequate housing for all and make human settlements safer, healthier, more livable, equitable sustainable, and productive.”

This right has been incorporated into international agendas, notably the African Union’s Agenda 2063 (2015). The “full exercise of the right to adequate housing” has gained persuasive force with the Cities Without Slums program launched by UN-Habitat (2000), which integrates this objective into national strategies and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In 2010, an initial evaluation found that of the 17 countries that had achieved a significant reduction in slums, six were African: Rwanda (20.4%); Uganda (22.1%); Senegal (22.2%); Ghana (25.6%); Egypt (39.2%); Morocco (45.8%). This represents 11% of the continent’s countries that had implemented policies to promote access to adequate housing for all. However, this is still very few, considering the accumulated delays and projections that see the number of people living in slums rising from 400 million in 2016 to 1.2 billion by 2050.

The “Cities Without Slums” Program in Morocco: A Best Practice

The “Cities Without Slums” program was launched in 2004 as a royal initiative. A nationwide effort, it aims to eliminate slums by providing households with access to adequate housing through (i) relocation; (ii) low-cost rehousing; and (iii) in-situ restructuring, based on a city contract involving ministerial departments, public operators, municipalities, civil society, and slum populations. The program covers 85 cities and 464,000 households (2,300,000 people), driven by the political will to promote a rights-based approach, urban inclusion, and poverty reduction.

Between 2004 and 2015, 55 cities were declared slum-free, affecting 1,300,000 people at a total cost of US$3.5 billion, with US$1 billion (30%) subsidized by the state, and the remainder covered by cross-subsidization of operations (54%) and household contributions (16%).

As of July 2024, the program had achieved a 75% completion rate, benefiting 347,000 households at a total cost of US$4.7 billion. This best practice reflects a proactive political approach, integrated into national development strategies, and aspiring to guarantee decent housing for all and a better urban future.

Meeting the Challenge of Affordable Housing in Africa by 2063

Urban development, climate change, population growth, land issues, accessibility, affordability, and housing availability, along with the dynamics of population rejuvenation or aging and the impacts of successive crises, highlight the need to rethink and revitalize housing policies in Africa. These challenges require innovative and collaborative approaches.

Among the key lessons on social housing in Africa, we emphasize the importance of the active role of states in regulating the real estate market. This includes combating land speculation, increasing housing supply, and rigorously overseeing housing allocation to ensure equitable access that meets the population’s needs.

While the implementation of these policies falls exclusively under the jurisdiction of states, the African Union has a fundamental role to play in actively encouraging and supporting the social housing sector in response to the ever-growing demand.

Six major recommendations could help meet the challenge of affordable housing in Africa by 2063:

1. Launch an African Housing Plan and Support its ImplementationHousing is a social, strategic, and essential investment for the well-being of citizens and social cohesion. This strategy aims to support the development of affordable housing, improve its legal framework, set production targets, accelerate land management, and integrate sustainable solutions to reduce the carbon footprint.
2. Develop a Long-Term, Fixed-Rate, Large-Scale Financing StrategyIt is imperative to mobilize concessional, long-term, fixed-rate resources to finance social housing. Popular savings, including those of the diaspora, should be more effectively harnessed, and housing banks should be strengthened. The establishment of structural funds and corporate contributions also remain interesting levers to explore, along with the participation of development partners, some of whom are already involved in the sector.
3. Structure the Housing Ecosystem and Promote Local MaterialsSocial housing should be seen as an ecosystem where each actor, whether public, private, or civil society, plays a crucial role. This ecosystem would benefit from better structuring. It is also important to promote the use of local materials, as they can reduce construction costs, stimulate the local economy, and contribute to the creation of more ecological and accessible housing for all.
4. Strengthen the Capacities of Housing Actors and Promote ResearchDeveloping skills in areas such as land use planning, project management, and property management is essential to enable actors to better plan, finance, and execute social housing programs, while improving residents’ quality of life. The need for this is exponential and can only be met through the structuring of new training offers in collaboration with dedicated organizations and academic institutions.
5. Organize an Annual Meeting of Housing Ministers from African Union Member StatesThis meeting would allow for the coordination of national policies, the sharing of best practices, and the strengthening of cooperation to harmonize approaches and monitor common strategies.
6. Encourage Innovation through an Annual Summit on Social HousingThis event would allow African housing actors to regularly exchange on professional practices identified as successful models. For example, in terms of supporting housing cooperatives, Senegal’s Housing Bank has unique expertise in Africa. In Kenya, the National Housing Development Fund is a frequently cited model.