African cities have among the highest urbanisation, population and household growth rates globally.Every day, more than 1,000 people are added to Kinshasa’s population. The Congolese capital has been the fastest-growing major city in Africa this century.
For a problem so large, Africa’s housing crisis receives remarkably little attention. “Everyone talks about infrastructure, and we feel like no-one talks about housing,” laments Kecia Rust, executive director of the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), a Johannesburg-based think tank.