Abstract
The prevailing substandard shelter conditions in Africa corroborates the need for and intractability of providing adequate, decent and affordable housing solutions. The housing problem may even be considered a quagmire in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region which is witnessing a phenomenal rate of population growth and urbanization, without a complementary and commensurate supply of housing. Notably, the housing deficit in the SSA region has both economic and physical dimensions. There is physical shortage of liveable houses and the available ones too are beyond the financial reach of the lower- and middle-income groups. Thus, a more sustainable solution requires McDonaldization of the affordable housing delivery business model, characterized by efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. This research describes and evaluates an innovative partnering model currently employed by Shelter Afrique; a Pan African housing finance institution to leverage the delivery of affordable housing units in Rwanda. In partnership with the City of Kigali and the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD), Shelter Afrique is nearly completing the first phase of the Rugurama Park Estate (RPE) Project which aims to deliver 2,800 affordable houses on a 32-hectare land situated in Kigali, Rwanda. The project adopts sustainability principles in the design and construction where autoclaved aerated concrete constitutes the main building material. Drawing on the RPE project, this paper offers a detailed evaluation of how the proposed innovative PPP arrangement could offer practical and realistic affordable housing solutions in Africa and other developing countries. For practical relevance and replicability of the proposed PPP arrangement, the research discusses the technical, financial and stakeholder engagement strategies of the RPE PPP housing project and highlights some useful lessons. The RPE project value chain offers significant development impact as it will provide affordable housing to 12,000 people, create 400 permanent and 1000 short-term jobs. Thus, the project offers an innovative and sustainable approach of using innovative PPP arrangement to deliver affordable housing with a clear structure for public and private sector partnership and engagement. This makes the strategy and arrangement replicable across Africa since most of the countries share socio-political and industry climates. Considering that effective structuring and engagement are success factors for effective PPP affordable project delivery, this paper has a potential impact of facilitating the implementation of PPP affordable housing strategies that may contribute significantly to the achievement of Africa’s housing and urban development objective of creating sustainable cities and communities within the Goal 11 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
