Construction & Real Estate
From The Report: Ghana 2020
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Click here for our 2022 analysis of Ghana’s Construction and Real Estate sectors

Ghana’s construction sector is growing, led by the development of affordable housing and critical infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, hospitals and schools. It has also been bolstered by a steadily growing economy, which is expected to continue at a GDP growth rate of 6.8% in 2020. Improvements in land registration and permit systems reflect the authorities’ efforts to address structural challenges. There is significant potential in Ghana’s real estate sector as the government implements initiatives aimed at increasing the affordable housing stock and establishing a robust mortgage market. After continued expansion in excess of 3% per year in real terms between 2015 and 2017, a slowdown in 2018 reflected weaker demand across the residential, commercial and retail segments, according to a 2019 report from the Ghana Statistical Service. This chapter also contains an interview with Nana Kwame Bediako, CEO, Kwarleyz Group.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Breaking ground: Infrastructure development and public-private partnerships drive an increase in building activity
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Ghana’s construction sector is growing, led by the development of affordable housing and critical infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, hospitals and schools. It has also been bolstered by a steadily growing economy, which has since 2017 outperformed the global economy. Expansion is expected to continue, with a GDP growth rate of 6.8% for 2020. Improvements in land registration and permit systems, coupled with new regulatory support, reflect the authorities’ efforts to address…

Analysis

Narrow the gap: Addressing the housing deficit by increasing the stock of affordable homes and easing access to mortgages
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Ghana is following a continent-wide trend of a booming population moving towards cities. The World Bank estimated Ghana’s population at 29.8m in 2018, up from 19.3m in 2010. Meanwhile, the proportion of those living in urban areas rose from 43.9% in 2000 to 55.3% in 2017, according to the African Development Bank. These demographic shifts are straining the housing supply. In April 2019 Samuel Atta Akyea, the minister of works and housing, announced that the housing deficit had topped 2m,…

Overview

Over land and sea: China’s implementation of a new trade network is energising the global construction industry – Ghana
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From 206 BCE to 220 CE, China’s Han dynasty fostered a booming trade industry for silk, a precious commodity in high demand among the elites of the Mediterranean. The Silk Road was the name given to the network of trade routes connecting the East and West at the time. Later, spices and other precious cargo would be traded using the system, fostering not only economic, but also cultural links between Asia and its contiguous continents. As such, the network became the information superhighway of its time as well, transmitting knowledge and expertise across distance and cultures. Rapid economic expansion in China in the four decades since…

Overview

Raise the roof: Streamlining permit, land acquisition and registration processes to encourage property development
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There is significant potential in Ghana’s real estate sector as the government implements initiatives aimed at increasing the affordable housing stock and establishing a robust mortgage market. After continued expansion in excess of 3% per year in real terms between 2015 and 2017, a slowdown in 2018 reflected weaker demand across the residential, commercial and retail segments, according to a 2019 report from the Ghana Statistical Service. The lowered demand was attributed to sensitivity…

Interview

Increasing affordability: Nana Kwame Bediako, CEO, Kwarleyz Group, on the need for an integrated approach to development
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Interview:Nana Kwame Bediakob How can Ghana increase its use of domestically sourced construction inputs? NANA KWAME BEDIAKO: The opportunity for Ghana to increase domestic inputs relates not just to training our large pool of affordable labour, but also to increasing production of materials needed to fuel the country’s evolution. Having to import all of the materials necessary for major construction projects hampers development, as it causes a lot of delays and leads to extra costs in…

Overview

Urban adaptation: Rapid urbanisation and young, growing populations put pressure on emerging markets to solve housing deficits – Ghana 2020
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Urbanisation is a mega-trend redefining contemporary life in both developed and emerging markets across the world. This mass rural-to-urban movement of people and expansion of cities to absorb formerly isolated villages is a relatively recent phenomenon, at least in the developing world. According to the UN, in 1950, 751m people lived in urban areas; however, by 2018 this number had risen to 4.2bn, equivalent to roughly 55% of the world’s population. By 2050 the UN estimates that this figure will rise to 68%. This growth will not be distributed evenly, but rather disproportionately concentrated in the developing world, with high rates…