Rossbach: Housing deficit in Africa will exceed 130 million units by 2030

By 2050, Africa's urban population will increase by 600–900 million people, stated Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Anaclaudia Rossbach at WUF13 in Baku, Report informs.

According to her, these staggering figures clearly demonstrate the scale of the challenge facing the African continent. "It is here, along with Southeast Asia, that the main growth of the world's population is concentrated today," Rossbach emphasized.

According to her, the housing deficit in Africa already exceeds 60 million units today, and if the current pace of urbanization continues, this figure will surpass 130 million by 2030. "The financial gap in this area is enormous, amounting to more than $1.4 trillion," noted the head of the relevant UN agency.

She recalled that only four years remain until the deadline for achieving the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. "And all of this is happening against the backdrop of a rapidly unfolding urbanization process in Africa, which is proceeding faster than in other regions of the world," said the Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

Nevertheless, Rossbach believes that the current crisis also opens up enormous investment opportunities in the areas of housing construction, municipal infrastructure, climate-resilient construction, and the transition to green buildings.

In conclusion, the head of UN-Habitat reminded that just a month and a half ago, the second African Urban Forum, organized under the auspices of the African Union and the Government of Kenya, was successfully concluded in Nairobi. "At that time, government representatives, city mayors, international development partners, the private sector, and civil society united around a shared and very clear understanding: the future of Africa's cities directly depends on how exactly we finance and implement infrastructure projects during this decade," Anaclaudia Rossbach summarized.