Housing: Domain report

Working Paper 18

Miriam Maina, Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael, Alexandre Apsan Frediani and Ola Uduku

July 2024

Abstract

The housing challenge in African cities is far from homogenous. Different countries and regions are experiencing different patterns to their urban transition, themselves shaped by diverse historical, social, political and economic trajectories. This report outlines the findings of the housing domain research of the African Cities Research Consortium, which was implemented in seven African cities: Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Lagos, Nigeria; Lilongwe, Malawi; and Nairobi, Kenya.

The research reiterates the need for: housing reform coalitions to focus on addressing governance and institutional coordination within the public sector; the stabilisation of and support for urban rental markets; and addressing intersectional challenges in the building and construction sector. The report highlights that for these three agendas to be advanced, housing reform needs to address multiple and diverse actors, such as government and private sector organisations, institutional bodies, civil society, local community interest groups, and their intersectional interests in housing provision. Therefore, these agendas emerged as critical for the transformation of housing production systems and, by extension, human settlements: for driving the achievement of housing justice for marginalised communities.

Keywords

Housing justice, housing value chain, rental housing, construction and building industry