“We need a paradigm shift; we have to realise that Africa is not the continent of cheap commodities but rather that the people of Africa need infrastructure and a future.” Gerd Müller, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
The potential of affordable housing to stimulate African economies
The Centre for Affordable Housing in Africa’s research into housing construction and housing rental value chains across Africa has shown that in South Africa, housing construction has the potential to provide more than a threefold stimulus to the entire economy, not just the construction sector.¹
Casa Real, our Mozambican in-country delivery partner, has proved that building an entry level home creates a job for five people. Home ownership is the foundation of the creation of wealth and provides security, stability and a safe living environment. What if we were able to find a way to begin to address the backlog of 50 million homes in Africa in an affordable and climate responsible way? Can you imagine the impact on African economic prosperity?
Investment into affordable housing and the construction industry ensures investment and income generation in Africa itself, with direct benefits for Africans. Such investment helps to create a stable political, social and economic environment and reduces the need for residents to seek settlement in other countries. Technology and decentralisation are the key to unlocking the vicious cycle of tremendously high costs of capital at local banks in Africa, thereby creating obstacles for Africans to buy a house through a mortgage as a long term investment. This has caused a backlog of 50 million homes. Technology and decentralised financial services are the key to the door of a decent, affordable home for someone with limited income and all the economic, health and social benefits that come with that home.
Cardano’s Africa strategy
The “Africa strategy” is IOHK’s strategy to drive Cardano’s adoption in the African continent to everyday users and businesses, achieved through the accomplishment of two goals. The first, to engage with local stakeholders in delivering projects that solve real issues in the market. To assist governments, NGOs and private sector companies to recognise the potential for blockchain technology to improve trust and transparency, increase efficiency and reduce costs. The second, to train and educate local developers to create solutions for local problems.
Cardano is building a technology platform that incentivises economic activity through a decentralised, immutable ledger. By using a distributed and trusted database, blockchain solutions reduce the barriers that impede business. Empowa is enabling empowerment through property development, improving living conditions, creating employment, stability and economic prosperity… all based upon the possibilities offered by decentralisation and the Cardano blockchain technology.
Read more about our approach to overcome the obstacles of access to finance on our website at https://empowa.io
¹ Centre for Affordable Housing, 24 April 2020, Unpacking the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the South African economy and the housing sector, https://housingfinanceafrica.org/documents/unpacking-the-potential-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-the-south-african-economy-and-the-housing-sector/
