Housing crisis in Ivory Coast – diagnoses, causes and proposed solutions

<h2><span style="color:#e67e22;"><strong>I. A PERSISTENT QUANTITATIVE DEFICIT</strong></span></h2> <p>The available data converges towards a worrying diagnosis.</p> <p>In 2023, the housing deficit in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire was increased. estimated &agrave; approximately 800,000 units, with annual growth of approximately 10% of needs.</p> <p>The deficit is particularly marked in the city of Abidjan, where demand is largely in excess of what it was supply, with an estimated increase in &agrave; several tens of thousands of units each year.</p> <p>According to the Board of Directors of the National Union of Civil Servants of C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire (Unafoci), more than 600,000 houses are missing in the country to meet current needs.</p> <p>This quantitative insufficiency of the park is aggravated by rapid and continuous urbanization, particularly upon the return of economic centers such as Abidjan and Yamoussoukro, where demographic pressure intensifies demand.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="color:#e67e22;"><strong>II. ECONOMIC AND LEGAL MECHANISMS OF THE PROBLEM</strong></span></h2> <h3>A. INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY OF HOUSING PRODUCTION</h3> <p>It is good to say it; there is a glaring shortage of residential housing in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire.</p> <p>Annual housing construction (around 36,000 units in 2024) covers only a tiny part of demand (around 65,000 to 70,000), leaving a significant portion of needs unmet.</p> <p>Access to long-term financing for the real estate sector remains limited, with a preference by the banking system for long-term loans. short term. Which penalizes affordable housing projects accessible to needy populations.</p> <h3>B. ACCESSIBILITY DEGREED FINANCIAL</h3> <p>A significant part of the Ivorian population lives below the poverty line, with limited purchasing power. to access the property or at rental.</p> <p>The poverty rate, which experienced an accelerated decline of more than 10 points between 2011 and 2018 to reach 39.5% in 2018, is now experiencing a slower decline, reaching 37.5% in 2021.</p> <p>Although inflation has fallen, from 5.2% to 4.4%, transport and energy prices increased.</p> <p>The rise in rents and land prices in urban areas accentuates the exclusion from formal markets for low-income households. mode and middle income. Which accentuates this precariousness. in terms of access to housing.</p> <h3>C. PERSISTENT COMPLEXITIES OF LAND LAW</h3> <p>If recent reforms attempt to secure land titles, insecurity continues. legal and land conflicts persist as obstacles.</p> <p>The country remains confronted with &agrave; an overlap of customary rights and state land titles, which makes land transactions difficult and creates uncertainties for investors and developers.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="color:#e67e22;"><strong>III. SOCIAL AND URBAN CONSEQUENCES</strong></span></h2> <p>The housing crisis in Ivory Coast is having tangible effects.</p> <p>Urban sprawl: the rarity of housing grows unplanned expansion from cities to poorly equipped peripheral areas.</p> <p>Precariousness residential: a significant part of the Ivorian population lives in unsuitable, indecent or non-standard housing, with consequences in terms of health. and access to drinking water and infrastructure. The housing crisis will, in this case, spread to the rest of the world. a health problem public.</p> <p>Vulnerability socio-economic: the concentration of housing costs on income further weakens low-income households. low income.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="color:#e67e22;"><strong>IV. PATHS FOR SOLUTIONS</strong></span></h2> <p>To respond to this challenge linked to &agrave; In response to the housing crisis, several complementary levers are essential, linking public law, land regulation, economics and financing.</p> <h3>A. STRENGTHENING LAND POLICY</h3> <p><strong>1. Legal security of land titles</strong><br /> It would be good for the Ivorian authorities to take a more concrete interest in legal security of land titles. This will have the effect of speeding up the delivery of land titles and reducing disputes by clarifying the coexistence between customary law and state law. This will improve access to land for housing construction and reduce legal risks for investors.</p> <p><strong>2. Revision of procedures for access to land</strong><br /> The revision of procedures must contribute to the simplification of the ways and means of obtaining land intended for social and economic housing.</p> <h3>B. IMPROVING HOUSING FINANCING</h3> <p><strong>1. Development of adapted financial instruments</strong><br /> Through the promotion of low-cost mortgage loans, long term affordable rates, guarantee mechanisms for real estate loans and alternative instruments (land bonds, crowdfunding).</p> <p><strong>2. Tax incentive measures:</strong><br /> This takes the form of tax relief measures for real estate developers involved in the construction of social and economic housing.</p> <h3>C. ACCELERATE THE PROMOTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING</h3> <p><strong>1. Prioritize public-private partnerships (PPP)</strong><br /> The Ivorian authorities must engage more systematically with the private sector. in large-scale integrated projects, such as the support of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute;&eacute; International Finance (IFC) for real estate PPPs.</p> <p><strong>2. Construction standards and innovation</strong><br /> Encourage industrial prefabrication, the use of local and resilient materials in order to reduce costs and construction times; helping to speed up construction sites.</p> <h3>D. RENTAL REGULATORY FRAMEWORK</h3> <p><strong>1. Rent control for low-income households</strong><br /> Establish a rental regulatory framework, with a view to regulating access to rental properties for low-income households. Indeed, despite In addition to economic risks, a regulatory capping mechanism can help to reduce this risk. stabilize the rental offer for the most vulnerable populations.</p> <p><strong>2. Promotion of hybrid forms of access to housing</strong><br /> Popularization of leases construction, rental-purchase or even housing cooperatives with a view to facilitating access to housing. the property middle classes.</p> <h2>&nbsp;</h2> <h2><strong>Conclusion</strong></h2> <p>The housing crisis in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire is not just a quantitative deficit. It is also the result of interactions between rapid urban growth, financial constraints, difficulties in securing land tenure and the limits of formal private supply.</p> <p>The legal, economic and institutional framework will have to be rethought. to reconcile sustainable development, security and safety. land legal, boosting housing financing and social inclusion.</p> <p>This challenge is central to social cohesion, orderly urbanization and economic stability. economy of the country.</p>