Senior Advisor to the Minister for Works and Housing, Jesse Agyepong has unveiled plans by the ministry to address Ghana's housing deficit.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb TV at the 2024 IFC EDGE Students Design Competition, Agyepong highlighted the critical need for innovative solutions to tackle the country's housing challenges.

Currently, Ghana's housing deficit stands at approximately 1.8 million units, with current construction rates of 30,000 to 40,000 homes per year falling short of the demand.

To bridge this gap, Agyepong announced the launch of a district housing project aimed at mitigating rural-urban migration and providing accommodation for essential workers like nurses and teachers.

These homes will incorporate advanced technologies focused on energy efficiency, water conservation, and other sustainable practices.

“We're currently starting with about six districts. Each of these districts would get about 41 units. So that means that if we amplify such a policy across all the districts, we can fix not just the affordability concerns of houses in the urban centres, not just the deficit in the urban centres, but would also ensure that from a rural district point of view, our housing delivery is also being done,” he said.

Agyepong said it is important to foster innovation from educational institutions to ensure that future businesses are equipped to contribute effectively to the housing sector.

“This competition is important because it takes innovation to the heart of where it must be. We incubate the ideas and the solutions for the future right from the campuses, from the young people, to ensure that by the time they grow into fully-fledged businesses, we are doing something right. So our growth in the housing sector has got to be holistic.

“We need to ensure that we are working with the policymakers, we are working with the architects and engineers and we need to take the idea of this programme to the educational level,” he said.

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