The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have urged the private sector to explore the immense opportunities in Ghana’s Housing and Infrastructure sectors, using insights from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Investor Map.
The call was made during the third edition of the SDG Investor Map Breakfast Meeting, held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.
The event rallied together relevant stakeholders to create awareness on the huge investment prospects of the housing and infrastructure sectors, as identified by the SDG Investor Map. It also set the stage to drive local and foreign investment into the housing industry, which is a priority sector under government’s Ghana CARES Obantaapa programme.
In recent times, Ghana’s property development market has gained momentum, in lieu of the urbanisation rate of 3.51%, an increasing middle class, and the influx of non-resident Ghanaians and foreign homebuyers.
Ghana's property development sector has recently acquired traction, thanks to a 3.51 percent urbanisation rate, a growing middle class, and an influx of non-resident Ghanaians and overseas homebuyers.
Invest in Ghana's housing and infrastructure sectors utilizing the SDG investor map, according to the private sector.
Despite an annual supply of 40,000 housing units, the country's housing shortfall was still over 1.7 million people, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2021.
Yofi Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, addressed investors during the conference, emphasizing the need of supporting investments in these sectors to alleviate Ghana's housing gap and boost the country's industrialisation push.
He believes the real estate business has the ability to give investors with satisfactory returns, and that the "Ministry of Works and Housing is seeking to bring on board new stakeholders in the mortgage industry."
Invest in Ghana's housing and infrastructure sectors utilizing the SDG investor map, according to the private sector.
Mr Grant also urged investors to use the SDG Investor Map, calling it "an vital source of information for investors, both local and international, who are eager to explore Ghana's Housing and Infrastructure area, as well as other crucial sectors."
Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, UNDP's Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana, highlighted the importance of sector-driven investments, saying that the country's housing sector has plenty of room for private sector engagement.
Partnership with the private sector, he believes, is an efficient strategy to address the country's housing shortfall.
"Ghana is attempting to close the housing deficit. To do so, the private sector must be brought in as a key role," he said.
He reaffirmed UNDP's commitment to helping Ghana become a more attractive investment location.
Investors might look into "affordable house building, as well as road construction and maintenance," according to UNDP Economic Analyst Sylvia Senu, who briefed stakeholders on various prospects in the property industry.
She went on to elaborate on the possibilities, offering investors an example business plan that included development requirements, predicted development outcomes, funding sources, and estimated profits.
P. Dela Zumanu, CEO of the National Home Ownership Fund, presented some of his organization's measures to address the country's housing need.
"The government has launched a housing initiative that has succeeded," he says, "and is cooperating with financial institutions to give cheap homes to people who need them."
Other significant actors such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Works and Housing, KPMG, and Saka Homes also contributed to the event. A B2B session was held at the end to encourage business relationships among the mapping stakeholders.
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