| INTRODUCTION |
| Nigerian Project Initiators :: Project coordinator :: Architect :: Community Planner :: Construction Engineer :: Accountant :: Finance Specialist :: Lawyer :: Real Estate Expert :: Marketing Specialist :: Industrial Engineer Foreign Project Initiators :: Project coordinator :: Architect :: Community Planner :: Construction Engineer :: Accountant :: Finance Specialist :: Lawyer :: Real Estate Expert :: Marketing Specialist :: Industrial Engineer |
| Rendering of a proposed affordable house |
| Schematic view of a steel framed house |
| Elevation of proposed affordable house |
| Floor Plan of proposed affordable house |
| Tentative map of 576 subdivided plots with internal roads, green and commercial areas |
| Photograph of a typical dwelling generally found in most African countries |
| Photo of a steel framed house under construction in Kansas City |
| Photo of a steel framed house under construction in Kansas City |
| Workman pouring cement over wire mesh lath of the exterior wall of a steel framed house |
“ The starting point for a better world is the belief that it is possible” Norman Cousins, philosopher and author “Our Project is not just about “bricks and mortars” and the building of homes, but also about the building of new neighborhoods and improved quality of life. Neighborhoods where families can live closer to employment opportunities, schools, recreation facilities, public transportation and work together to build security and stability in their community” From the web site of the Housing Partnership, Inc. 1.1 Introduction Affordable Housing in Nigeria A pressing problem in need of a solution Nigeria, located in the western corner of Africa is a country of 123 million inhabitants, a per capita income that does not exceed three hundred US dollars per annum, and a high birth rate. Nigeria also suffers from a chronic housing shortage that forces many low-income families to live in cramped unhygienic conditions, with cases of ten to fourteen people occupying a single room. The question that comes to mind is why this grave problem has not been addressed earlier? The Committee for better housing conditions in Nigeria, author of this web site, recognizes that the country is in need of affordable housing. They also note that most of the low-cost construction programs that were initiated during the past twenty years were not entirely successful. In some instances poor planning or bad management may have been the cause. In many cases however, the projects that were aimed at the needy population ended up being diverted to the middle class or to high-level government employees. This was because the low-income Nigerian worker simply could not afford to purchase a home, even a low-cost one. We shall briefly explain why:
earns between twelve thousand to eighteen thousand naira per month depending on experience and qualification. At the current exchange rate of 140 naira for every US dollar this represents the equivalent of $85 to $130 per month.
transportation expenses to commute between his home and his employment location. It also takes him from one to two hours and two or three changes of public transport systems to reach his place of work. With less than ten thousand naira left to pay for rent, food and other living necessities for himself and his family, how can this employee contemplate buying a home? To address this problem, the committee has come up with an affordable housing solution that combines home building and job creation and simultaneously seeks to solve the transportation crisis. The committee proposes to build sustainable communities comprised of “minimum-cost houses” with a unit price target of less than twelve thousand US dollars (or 1,680,000 in Nigerian naira, the local currency). The building will be large enough to house a family of seven to ten persons including, on average, three wage earners. In addition, the committee projects to erect simultaneously, in the vicinity of each new housing community, an industrial park enclosing a number of light assembly factories that will generate new jobs for the low-income residents. Unburdened with commuting expenses, each household will have enough combined residual income to meet the monthly purchase installments of their new home. Later on in this web site we shall describe the other features and advantages of this proposal and how, if it is properly implemented, everyone, from the Nigerian Government and the funding providers to the low-income workers, stand to gain from it. We are under no illusion that such a vast and complicated undertaking (the project envisages the construction of no less than thirty-six thousand housing units) can be achieved without a great deal of thought and effort. We believe in partnership, and we actively seek to establish cooperative and supportive relationships between the public and the private sectors, between the business communities and the communities they serve and among all of the various entities that must work together to achieve community stabilization, preservation and vitality.
provide us with counsel and advice for this project. The Nigerian Government and some international lending organizations will be asked for their active support and participation. We have already received some preliminary expression of their interest in this project. We believe that we can bring together a number of experts in the different disciplines that are required for this enterprise and encourage them to combine their efforts and interact with each other to shape it. We are of the opinion that these experts should come equally from Nigeria and from the developed world in order to harmoniously blend the experience of the latter with the intimate knowledge of the local conditions of the former. The project as it appears on this web site represents a broad statement of intentions and indicates the general direction that the Committee for better housing conditions in Nigeria wishes to follow to improve the quality of life of the average Nigerian. The technical and financial details of the program have been left to the Project Initiators to determine and refine. They will do so using their experience, skill and qualification in their respective domain. This “team” approach is especially important if Nigeria is to successfully meet and overcome its current challenges. Now please read on to learn more about this subject and, if you determine that you can become a member of our teams of Expert Project Initiators, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following email address: f. coordinator@affordablehousingnigeria.com. Upon your request you will be provided with a password to access the rest of the contents of the web site. To allow for easier navigation we provide below our web site map in the form of questions and answers. Each short answer is linked to the page in the web site where the subject matter is developed. The Committee for better housing conditions in Nigeria Please continue on to our site map or contact our Project Initiator to get further access to the rest of our web site. NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT MENTORS SPONSORS SUPPLIERS INTERNATIONAL LENDERS LOCAL LENDERS REAL ESTATE COMPANIES CONTRACTORS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Copyright © 2004 Home Quest Nigeria Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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