Rising housing demand in Africa has attracted US investments in the sector for the construction of low-cost units in Rwanda
An American firm, Global Marketing Partners, has announced plans to pump more than US$10 million into building 400 low-cost houses in the East African country.
The project will make use of waste bio-mass technology in the construction of the units, each of which will cost $16,000.
Global Marketing Partners chairman and chief executive officer Glenn Stamps said, “We will be ready to begin the construction once all feasibility studies are completed.
“We have fully developed compliance with the national standards and expect this to take us only 120 days to start,” he added.
Stamps said the technology would use wheat, rice and sorghum waste mixed to form a chemical for creating panel boards, which will later be reinforced with steel.
It will be a first-of-its-kind attempt in Africa, but has been implemented in many Asian countries. Houses that are made using the technology will be fire-resistant as well.
The firm has already received all necessary permissions from the Investment Promotion and Implementation Department of the Rwanda Development Board.
According to Stamps, the project will boost both infrastructural and agricultural sectors in the country.
“It will employ about 30 per cent local constructors and we are willing to transfer this technology to Rwandans for application to any such projects in future,” Stamps said.
Once implemented, the project would help Rwanda meet the annual demand of 25,000 housing units for low- and middle-income earners.
