Nkendem Forbinake
23 April 2008
Could the government have finally found a way out of the long-running quagmire into which it has been plunged over the years with teething housing problems?
Difficult to say; but the protocol agreement signed between the government of Cameroon and a Shenyang-based Chinese construction company last April 18 is a landmark event which should expectedly, engender significant positive developments in the housing sector.
As per the agreement, the Chinese outfit is expected to start the construction of some 1500 housing units, destined for the lower-income prospective property owners by the year's end. Given the scope of national demand, 1500 houses sounds really derisory; even ridiculous!
But it is the specific context of very high demand and the recent history of similar undertakings that make this new offer interesting. National demand for housing in quantity and quality is very high. The government has shown concern for the problem right from the colonial company, the Société Immobilière du Cameroun (SIC) created in the late 1940s.
Attempts to give SIC more clout in addressing housing problems have never really been seriously felt. Other initiatives by government to identify and prepare plots for sale to citizens as a means of providing housing have generally been dwarfed by the exponential demand in the sector. MAETUR, the urban and rural lands development authority set up by government in the 1970s is the best illustration of government's inability to meet even a reasonable fraction of real demand. Other initiatives have been taken by the private sector. But tight-fisted bankers are never ever so ready to finance such projects, noted for their financial gluttony. Hence, the little interest shown by investors in the sector. Consequently, people tend to construct individual homes, sacrificing the economies of scale which come along with huge apartment buildings. Administrative labyrinths are also held responsible for some projects which, ordinarily, would have contributed, even if only insignificantly, to providing quality housing in urban centres. The Yaounde example is most telling.
A few year's ago, a Cameroon-Tunisia joint venture company acquired tens of hectares of land in Yaounde's south end. Hardly had the company started taking up the walls of the first units of the 500-odd houses did they run into land tenure problems, necessitating the stoppage of work. Work has lately resumed but potential real estate developers are haunted by such obstacles.
Only SIC has so far successful scaled through such obstacles as it owns housing units in Bertoua, Buea, Douala, Ebolowa, Limbe, Garoua, Maroua and Yaounde. The ambition of the Chinese company is to provide affordable housing for citizens of the lower income bracket. From its sheer ambition, one can put it at the level of SIC. The starting figure of 1500 housing units sounds like filling a jar with drops of water. But the Chinese, the promoters of the project know but all too well, that a journey of 1000 kilometres takes the first step to start. Moreover, our Chinese friends, through other projects being carried out in the country, have a good reputation in the eyes and minds of Cameroonians. Their very association with the initiative is a good augur for the future.
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