\n Speaking on the sidelines of the awards, Namibia\u2019s Minister of Housing, Sankwasa James Sankwasam, said his country\u2019s leadership had placed housing at the centre of public policy, with an explicit construction mandate for the current financial year.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy president, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, is highly committed to housing,\u201d he said, adding that the Namibian public service had been directed to deliver 50,000 houses within the year.\n <\/p>\n
\n While acknowledging the scale of housing shortages across African cities, Sankwasam pushed back against the idea that the crisis was uniquely African.\n <\/p>\n
Housing deficit a global issue – Namibian minister<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Drawing from personal experience abroad, he argued that homelessness and housing pressure were global realities.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI lived in London, I lived in Leeds in the UK, where people sleep under bridges,\u201d he said, stressing that population growth was outpacing housing supply worldwide.\n <\/p>\n
\n Namibia, he explained, is expanding access to finance for rural workers such as teachers and nurses, while investing in roads, water, and electricity to support housing outside major urban centres.\n <\/p>\n
Nigeria dismisses 30 million housing deficit stats<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Nigeria\u2019s Minister of Housing, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, used the forum to challenge widely cited figures about Africa\u2019s most populous nation.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThat is wrong, and there is no substantiated data on that,\u201d Dangiwa said, noting that a government committee was close to finalising a more credible estimate of between 15 and 16 million units.\n <\/p>\n
\n Dangiwa said the findings, based on population and other key parameters, would be made public early in the new year, a move he believes will improve planning and investment decisions.\n <\/p>\n