Will the affordable housing dream ever going to materialize in Ghana where several attempts to build affordable housing units for the citizenry have failed for several decades?. The evidence is as glaring as we keep recording huge housing and infrastructure deficits at every population census since independence. The Ghana Population and Housing Census 2021 reported a housing deficit of about 1.8 million. The ripple-effect is what we see today, the dramatic increase in slum communities, unapproved settlements, and substandard residential structures across major cities in Ghana, particularly Accra.

The state tried to change the trajectory and so did the private sector to bridge this ever-widening deficit, but all proved futile. The good news however is that, the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network Ltd has developed a model of building residential properties relatively cheaper enough to put shelter over the heads of the average low-income earner in Ghana.

One of these models is the use of Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB). The blocks by design are interlocking in nature eliminating the use of mortar joints in the construction process. This saves cost on the labor, sand, cement and water required for mortar works. The walls does not require plastering and painting, also eliminating the cost of labor, sand, cement, paint and water.

The blocks are made on project site most often; this also eliminates transportation cost compared to the situation in traditional concrete blocks where blocks have to be transported from factory to site.

Even in regular non-storey residential housing, columns may not be needed depending on the situation, expertise and experience of the interlocking building professional. This also eliminates the labor cost, steel reinforcement and in-situ concrete for column works etc and even in the event where it is necessary to use reinforcement, there is an alternative to steel bars, the fiber glass (polymer) bars that cut your reinforcement expenditure by 40%. Apart from the aforementioned cost-saving benefits of the interlocking Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks, they also have technical properties that make them the ultimate choice by all permutations.

First and foremost, the buildings are earthquake resistant by virtue of the interlocking property of the blocks, this interlocking mechanism helps in distributing seismic forces evenly throughout the structure.  The other earthquake-resistant properties worth mentioning are its high density, high flexural strength and low void ratio. Last but not least, CSEBs are fire-resistant by virtue of their low thermal conductivity which slows transfer of heat and reduces the risk of fire damage in the event of fire outbreak.

Remember the technology is not the conventional clayed-fired bricks that have been in the system all this while. It is a ratio of cement, clay or laterite in some cases, giving us a block with an average compressive strength of 8Mpa. The color of the block can be kept consciously by a selective choice of the clay or laterite or a mixture of the two. The building maintains an environmentally friendly temperature that there will be no need to spend so much on cooling systems.  Alternatively, one can clad this structure with natural stone (décor marbles) to give it that luxurious taste and aesthetics.

The interior can be plastered depending on the taste and preferences of the individual or better still, joints can be sealed and walls polished with a special varnish cheaper than plastering and painting. Ceiling works can be processed, treated or polish wood which is a local content input and environmentally friendly as well. Roofing can be locally made clay roof tiles common in the market, and the floor can be a terrazzo pavement etc.

The reality is that, you end up having a complete house with sound and superior structural integrity, eco-friendly and much cheaper compared to the conventional concrete house. Now is the time for us, as Ghanaians and Africans at large, to embrace these models to build that enviable motherland of Ghana for ourselves and posterity.

By this publication, we are therefore calling on all stakeholders in the building, construction and real estate industry, all sovereign African nations, regulatory bodies, civil society organizations, international bodies, non-governmental organizations, etc to rally behind this clarion call by patronizing these innovations and also spread the good news across the length and breadth of Ghana and Africa. We are also appealing to the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) through the EDGE initiative, ECOWAS, African Union, the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA), the African Development Bank for partnerships and investment in this regard, so that the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network and other stakeholders can develop these low-cost residential housing units to put shelter over the heads of the homeless majority of Ghanaians and by extension the African people.

 On the contrary in concluding, let me be quick to draw the attention of readers to an error in thinking that, using locally sourced building materials will always lead to a reduced construction cost. Achieving low development cost depends to a large extent on the expertise and experience of the developer in question using these locally made building materials and this is where the expertise of the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network Ltd comes to bare. Sourcing locally made building materials can sometimes be very expensive compared to using imported products.

First, many of these materials are produced manually; this leads to poor finishing, product defects and sometimes substandard. The implication in the long run is high maintenance cost of the buildings. Also, the inability to mechanize and automate production of these materials, we are unable to enjoy economy of scale. This makes production cost high which is transferred to the end user of the product. Apart from this, Ghana lacks robust transportation infrastructure coupled with poor maintenance culture, leading to high transportation cost of goods and services of which local building materials are no exception. This cost is also being transferred to the end user. On the flipside is energy cost influenced by external factors. Consequently, this and many other factors make imported materials from elsewhere even cheaper than locally sourced materials. This is the reason, it is very important for one to consult broadly and seek technical counsel from industry experts such as the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network in sourcing indigenous building materials for a project.

To wind up by form of recommendation, Ghanaians must take conscious steps to invest strategically in technology, robust transportation and energy infrastructure and the conscious training of the requisite manpower to design, construct and to maintain same. However, it is regrettable to see that Ghana have not been able to do this in centuries for lack of political will, predisposing the state to external shocks and leaving its entire population in abject poverty. The best recommendation in my opinion is for Ghana and by extension the African private sector to invest in strategic sectors of the economy. International investment models such as Public Private Partnerships (PPP) could be explored in some instances where need be. There are several PPP models for instance Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) which in my opinion can change the narrative if employed strategically. Ghana and by extension Africa, will only develop faster if attention is paid to the built environment and the time is now!. This agenda is one of the core mandates of the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network Ltd and we call for the unity of the Ghanaian built environment, the integration of the African built environment and all African leaders to be intentional about the development of the African built environment and this will undoubtedly lead to a socio-economic transformation of the continent.