Affordable housing: CoK urges private sector to invest in real estate

Investors have been urged to prioritise the real estate sector as the City of Kigali continues to advocate for the construction of housing units that are affordable for city dwellers. The call was made during the Kigali Investment Forum meeting held in Kigali, yesterday. The meeting attracted Kigali city authorities, private sector federation, heads of banking institutions and hotels, among other stakeholders. Monique Mukaruliza, the city mayor said affordable housing in the city is urgent, and urged private sector to invest in the area. However, it was observed that most of the developers embark on housing projects expecting them to be affordable, but upon completion, the costs incurred during construction push the price up. Mukaruliza said that this is due to the fact that the city has limited land which stifles the construction of affordable houses. She cited hurdles like having to expropriate people occupying the land as one of the factors that drive the costs up. She revealed that the city will allocate a budget for land acquisition in at least every fiscal year. “From that budget, we will acquire land that will only be reserved for investors who want to construct houses that are affordable to the people,” she said. Investors were presented with investment opportunities in the city as well as the new investment code which is friendlier than the old one (2005). Other priority sectors are manufacturing, mostly textile, ICT, energy, public transport and financial services. The phasing out of second hand clothes in the country is slated for 2019. This makes establishment of local textile industries urgent. Alex Ruzibukira, director general for industries and SMEs development at the Ministry for Trade and Industry revealed that the government has acquired 5 hectares of land to host the manufacturing zone which he called on investors to occupy. He added that the government is looking to establish an institute that specialises in garments and textiles within the integrated polytechnic regional center (IPRC). Andre Bitwayiki, the head of the private sector in the City of Kigali said, “They have shown us investment opportunities and the meeting is an opportunity to discuss with leaders and voice our problems. Since there is a good understanding between the public and the private sector, there are few challenges and we hope that investing in those sectors will be easy,” he said. Apart from the mentioned sectors, investors also requested that the government permit them to exploit marshlands for agriculture, planting fruits and vegetables as well as extracting energy from waste. Mukaruliza said that all activities that comply with the city’s master plan are authorized. Kigali Investment Forum takes place annually in May and December. According to the Ministry for Infrastructure, Rwanda’ s demand for affordable housing in general is estimated to require at least 560,000 units by 2020 plus all other related socio- economical amenities in addition to current housing supply. To be able to satisfy this demand, the figures, the ministry says that until 2020, this will require yearly construction of 93,400 units (or 7,780 units monthly). editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Affordable housing: CoK urges private sector to invest in real estate