Shelter Afrique, one of the continent’s housing development finance institutions, has announced a competition that will boost affordable housing in Africa and see winners take home $100,000 (Sh10million).
The competition dubbed; 5,000 For 5,000 Homes, aims at stimulating innovative thinking on how a sustainable, friendly home can be designed and produced at a capital cost of no more than $5,000 (Sh500, 000). Shelter Afrique managing director James Mugerwa (pictured), said evidence of a rising middle class abounds in sub-Sahara Africa’s largest cities.
“However, there is another uncomfortable and increasingly often less told, story of Africa’s urban poor. This competition aims at spurring discussion and bringing out affordable housing concepts that might be out there for the rising urban population,” he added.
Shelter Afrique and its partners have undertaken to support the financing for the development and completion of 5,000 units with the winning entry in agreed locations across Africa. Entries close in January 31, 2017.
Proposed designs must be for a one-bedroom dwelling unit with a foot print of approximately 45 square metres. The design has to include a kitchen, bedroom, toilet and living area with an adequate lighting design to suite a range of customers.
Other factors for consideration include; a generous head room and floor to ceiling heights with possible options for natural ventilation; use of eco- friendly, light weight sustainable materials to achieve low construction cost requirement; and the design should be easy to replicate.
The competition is open to individuals, teams of designers, artists, architects, engineers and other players in the housing sector. The Sh10 million prize money will go to the top entries, with most of the money going to the top three winners.
In most African cities, the cost of new housing includes those built by government agencies, and usually significantly higher than what people with low incomes can afford.