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Housing Minister, Christopher Kalila, has called for innovative and integrated approaches to address Zambia’s housing deficit, warning that the country’s shortfall could exceed 3.3 million units by 2030 without increased investment and delivery.
Kalila said Zambia’s current housing deficit stood at more than 1.5 million units and that about 220,000 housing units needed to be delivered annually to prevent the shortfall from widening.
Speaking during the official opening of the 42nd African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) Conference at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka, he said the scale of the challenge required coordinated action across multiple sectors.
He said this year’s theme, Transforming Africa’s Housing Future: Innovation, Technology and Value Chain Synergies, was timely as rapid urbanisation, population growth and changing household needs continued to put pressure on the supply of adequate and affordable housing.
“Housing is not simply a social service or a matter of shelter. It is a foundation for human dignity, family security, public health, quality employment and inclusive economic growth,” Kalila said.
He said Government’s responsibility was to provide leadership, strengthen institutional coordination and create an enabling environment for private sector participation, particularly in addressing the needs of low- and middle-income households and vulnerable communities.
“Government’s role is to provide leadership, strengthen system synergies, and create an enabling environment that unlocks active private sector participation and responds to the needs of low- and middle-income households and vulnerable people,” Kalila said.
He said although Government was implementing policies and legal and regulatory reforms to promote innovation and affordable housing, it could not address the deficit alone without meaningful private sector involvement.
“The partnership we seek, and which Africa needs, must go beyond isolated projects. We need to work together to develop value chain synergies, bankable housing project pipelines, aggregate demand, reduce development risks and expand access to long-term finance,” he said.
Kalila said many African households depended on informal economic activities and earned incomes that excluded them from conventional mortgage financing.
He called for countries to strengthen alternative housing finance mechanisms, including savings schemes and housing microfinance.
“Countries on the continent should collectively work towards strengthening the entire housing-finance ecosystem, including savings and housing microfinance such as SACCOs and ROSCAs,” Kalila said.
He said the Bank of Zambia, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and other stakeholders were advancing collaboration under the Housing Finance Initiative, which was also captured in the central bank’s Strategic Plan for 2024-2027.
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Government was also establishing a National Housing Task Force to strengthen coordination across sectors, he said.
Kalila outlined five priority areas for transforming the housing sector, including a stronger and more predictable policy environment, long-term capital and affordable housing finance, access to planned and serviced land and infrastructure, improved productivity across the housing value chain, and the development of climate-resilient and inclusive communities.
“Our five priorities are a stronger and more predictable enabling environment, long-term capital and fit-for-purpose affordable housing finance, unlocked planned and serviced land and infrastructure, improved productivity and affordability across the housing value chain, and climate-resilient, inclusive and well-planned communities,” he said.
He said the Zambia Housing Economic Value Chain Study, developed in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Zambia and Zambia National Building Society, would be officially launched during the conference.
The study is expected to inform policy, investment priorities and practical partnerships in the housing sector.
Kalila urged participants to build partnerships that would extend beyond the conference and contribute to strengthening Africa’s housing finance ecosystem and transforming the continent’s housing future.
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