Kigali's housing dilemma: Real estate developers are the problem

Editor, RE: “Kigali’s housing dilemma: Lessons from Ethiopia” (The New Times, November 1). Thank you for this very important article. You perfectly captured the crux of the problem here in Rwanda with the following paragraph: “It was also found that private property developers were concentrating on building houses for the high income earners who form only a tiny minority of the city’s population leaving an acute deficit for the majority of low income earners…..” Real estate development in Rwanda cannot and should not be left in the hands of private “developers”, who lack proper understanding of real estate development, investment and pricing. These individuals lack any type of long-term entrepreneurial thinking, and are solely focused on repaying their bank loans as quickly as possible, which leads to the ridiculously arbitrary house pricing and rent scales. Look at the two-bedroom apartment complexes referenced in the article. Where in the whole of Rwanda can you find such structures? Where would you find a two-bedroom house? It is unfortunate, that our developers are focusing on constructing the likes of the future ghost towns such as the Vision Estate. Who can afford these prices? Do these developers ever bother to look at the economy and the nation’s income trends? Dayo Ntwari

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Kigali's housing dilemma: Real estate developers are the problem