UN-Habitat chief calls on Africa to mobilize domestic resources to address housing crisis

Resolving Africa's housing problem is impossible without tapping into the continent's own domestic resources, Anaclaudia Rossbach, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said at the regional ministerial meeting for African countries during the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Report informs.

"International funding is insufficient to overcome the housing crisis on the continent. The key requirement is the development of sustainable national housing finance mechanisms and the empowerment of cities with the necessary financial authority. Kenya, which spent $4 billion to build 270,000 homes over three years, and Angola, where 350,000 housing units have been built over the past 10-15 years, are illustrative examples," Rossbach emphasized.