The Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said his ministry is committed to fostering collaboration, innovation and sustainable development within the built environment sector to address pressing housing and hydrology challenges in the country.

He asserted that in order to attain sustainable development in these domains, a collaborative and synchronised strategy involving all sectors and stakeholders is needed.

“We recognise that sustainable development in all these areas cannot be achieved in isolation but requires a concerted and coordinated approach across multiple sectors and stakeholders. Together, we can overcome Ghana’s housing and hydrology challenges and build a more resilient, equitable and prosperous nation for generations to come,” he elaborated.

Mr. Nkrumah said this in a keynote address at the 2024 Built Environment National Conference on Housing and Hydrology (BENCHH) held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra on July 2, 2024.

The 3-day BENCHH 2024 conference, designed to provide a comprehensive platform for robust discussions and exchange of insights among experts in the built environment sector, aims at developing collaborative solutions to address critical issue affecting the country’s urban development and water management.

Additionally, it explores ways to increase affordable housing, improve urban planning and develop sustainable building practices, while providing a platform for showcasing innovative housing solutions and successful case studies from other countries that can be adapted to the nation’s context.

Its theme, ‘Enhancing Collaboration to Tackle Ghana’s Housing and Hydrology Challenges’, signals government’s commitment to mobilising all of society to address issues in the sector.

The conference’s opening day also witnessed the GH¢1,500,000 National Hydrological Fund launch – a crucial initiative by government aimed at providing financial resources necessary for comprehensive flood management and water infrastructure projects across the country.

The minister urged all stakeholders, including development partners and allied bodies, to contribute to the fund and enable it to fuel the Ghana Hydro Authority’s operations.

Challenges

He added that although the public works, housing and hydrology sectors are critical components of the nation’s development agenda, their challenges have proven intractable over the years.

“Flooding, for instance, continues to be an annual occurrence in many communities across the country, but the national flood control programme has had limited impact in adequately tackling this challenge. Climate change and its attendant higher levels and irregular patterns of rainfall are set to exacerbate the problem,” he further noted.

Moreover, he said that on the housing front supply does not meet demand – resulting in a current national deficit of 1.8 million housing units. He also noted that government’s affordable housing programmes have been fraught with inadequate funding, resulting in delays for delivering affordable public housing schemes. He additionally said failure to complete started projects upon changes in political administration has worsened the problem.

Government Interventions

However, Mr. Nkrumah assured that over the next three days his outfit will provide detailed reports on government interventions in the country’s housing and hydrology sectors and explore with stakeholders new ways of achieving results.

Pertaining to this, he hinted that government is keen on deepening public private partnerships for affordable housing by offering incentives which make it easier for private developers to deliver needed affordable housing projects at scale and at the desired price point.

“Our initiatives such as the Districts Housing Programme and expansion of the National Homeownership fund will require collaboration with banks, pension funds, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment fund and local assemblies among others. We expect to foster the needed collaboration to achieve these goals over the next 3 days,” he added.

“The built environment also has regulators established by law and tasked to ensure adherence to laws and standards. Unfortunately, however, their impact has been limited due to teething issues in law and operational difficulties. Over the next 3 days we shall share with you the reforms we intend to undertake in these regulatory bodies and amendments in their enabling laws we intend to pursue” he further said

He lauded the organising committee at the ministry for their effort in putting together the three-day conference featuring a series of panel discussions, workshops and keynote presentations from leading experts in housing, urban planning, hydrology and environmental management.

With rapid urbanisation, the country faces significant challenges related to housing shortages and water management, including frequent flooding and inadequate water infrastructure. This conference aims to address these issues through innovative and sustainable strategies.