Review of land laws underway-minister

Goodluck Ole Medeye

The government has started to review all restrictive laws on land to enable more people access it with a view to their owning low-cost houses.

This was said yesterday in Dar es Salaam by Lands, Housing and Human Settlements deputy minister Goodluck Ole Medeye when opening a three-day international conference on growing housing opportunities in Africa, which was organized by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) in collaboration with the Africa Union Housing for Finance (AUHF).

The conference, which ends tomorrow and themed, 'Growing housing opportunities in Africa: Encouraging investment and growing the market' has attracted over 200 participants from in and outside the African continent.

He said the government intended to alleviate or minimize all cumbersome procedures which the local people face in acquiring land or own houses.

“The establishment of a Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) is a clear example where people will access loans from commercial banks for building low-cost houses,” he said.

He said Tanzania was committed to unlocking housing problems which many people in urban and rural areas face.

The minister said contribution of the housing sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was minimal due to low level of investment.

He urged entrepreneurs to consider investing in low-cost houses to enable more people own houses and repay the loans within a reasonable period of time.

For his part, BoT deputy governor Lila Mkila said in the recent past significant improvements in the environment of lending for housing had taken place.

He said the passing of the Mortgage Finance Act in 2008 had created a strong momentum in government for the development of housing finance and generated high level of expectancy.

“The Bank of Tanzania's prudential framework for micro-finance gives these institutions a solid base for becoming more active in the financial sector, benefiting the population at the lower end of income distribution,” he said.

He encouraged the business community, government officials, bankers and real estate developers to work closely to increase investment in housing in the country.

“On our part as the central bank we shall continue to provide the necessary support within our means,” he added.

The conference will enable delegates to define their own roles in growing housing opportunities in Africa.

Whether delegates are government officials, investors, developers, lenders or members of civil society, the conference will offer each participant useful insights and evidence for promoting housing in their own local contexts.

The meeting is being held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, even as the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development and the Bank of Tanzania are currently working together in partnership with the World Bank and the private sector to increase housing opportunities in a focused and systematic manner.

Experts say it is widely recognised that Africa’s rapidly developing economies and cities offer tremendous opportunities and challenges for housing development and investment.

Urbanisation rates in Africa are the highest in the world, and positive growth over the last decade has put many countries in a position to assertively address the housing situations of their populations.

While the mortgage sector remains small, developments in many countries suggest that this is changing. Housing practitioners across the continent are beginning to grapple with and understand the opportunities available and are developing precisely targeted products and projects.

Their work begins to chart pathways for new entrants into the sector, and this will contribute towards the growth of the housing sector across the continent.