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The housing crisis is accentuated with disparities from one city to another in Congo-Brazzaville. Solutions are being studied, which explains the recent organization of the first national real estate and housing meetings by the Ministry of Construction.
From our correspondent in Brazzaville,
In her fifties, Mireille Mbama’s main activity is the sale of local beers. A mother, her monthly profit hardly reaches 100,000 CFA francs, more than half of which is used to pay the rent.
« Yes ! I am a tenant. My house has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and bathrooms. I pay 60 000 CFA francs (nearly 92 euros) per month. It’s expensive, because after ten months, I’m at 600,000 CFA francs (nearly 920 euros). Before the rent cost less between 25 and 30,000 CFA francs (38 to 45 euros) monthly “, she laments.
70% of the population lives in cities
This testimony by Mireille Mbama is an illustration of the housing crisis, the causes of which are well known to Maître Brice Séverin Pongui, town planning adviser at the Ministry of Construction. ” There is a housing crisis much more in urban areas. It is due to the growth of the population, but also to the development of the cities in an uncontrolled way which means that in the end we find ourselves with many inhabitants in the city. However, we have not created the conditions to house them decently. “, he explains. At least 70% of the Congolese population lives in cities, including 37% in Brazzaville, according to recent studies conducted by the government or the World Bank.
To these causes must be added the non-respect of regulations and development plans by the populations. But also a long and expensive procedure to obtain the land title and high costs of building materials.
Regulate construction
Brazzaville has just hosted the first national meetings on real estate and urban planning, which brought together various players. ” This is an approach that we want to be constructive. We have brought together all the experts: notaries, lawyers, town planners and jurists so that we can look into this question, which should not be the sole business of the government of the republic. “says Josué Rodrigue Ngouonimba, Minister of Construction, Urban Planning and Housing.
At the end of these days, it was recommended that the State make the National Housing Fund operational and build the capacity of the Congolese Housing Bank.
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The level of the housing crisis is not the same everywhere. Armel Sidobé is mayor of Ouesso, Congo’s sixth city, with 56,000 inhabitants.
« I think we haven’t reached an unsustainable level yet. Ouesso is certainly an old city, but we don’t yet have any real concerns about the urbanization of the city of Ouesso. Buildings are taking place, but it is not in an anarchic way so far “, he assures.
World Bank studies established in 2019 that the housing deficit in Congo is 15,000 units per year.