The Managing Director of Afriland Properties, Uzo Oshogwe has called on the Nigerian government to look beyond brick-and-mortar structures to improve mass housing as a means of tackling the country’s housing deficit.

Oshogwe while speaking at the recently concluded 16th Africa International Housing Show held in Abuja, the nation’s capital, wants the government to adopt creative ways and policies to provide mass housing for the largely ‘homeless’ Nigerians and also added that it is imperative the government to adopt a different approach to achieving its aim of providing mass housing for all.

“We keep hearing about the 17–20 million housing deficit and it seems the story will never change, she said.

“The real truth is that we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. There must be a drastic change in the thought process to providing affordable housing for citizens within the low to mid-income bracket.

“Government should invest more in research and development in the area of alternative building materials and methods to ensure affordable housing for all citizens”, Oshogwe added.

While also admitting that there were many other local building materials and methods that significantly lower the cost of construction, Oshogwe further advised that the government should be proactive enough to invest in them.

“Proper investment should be made in research and development to open up more roads into affordable construction technology so that we can build cheaper, more affordable homes in a shorter time”, she stated.