Strategies are available to help Africa tackle its over 42million housing deficit, a real estate investor and strategist has revealed.
My-ACE China, known as the Mayor of Housing who is the CEO of the Construction and Housing Mayor Ltd, called for declaration of state of emergency in Africa’s housing sector, saying such huge deficit in the continent with most of it coming from Nigeria was a big concern. “Housing has become such a place of crisis that I think a state of emergency should be declared in Africa.”
The Mayor of Housing who emerged one of Africa’s 100 brand personalities reckoned for working assiduously to transform the continent into global competitiveness.
The award ceremony was held at the Transcorp-Hilton in Abuja at the weekend where the likes of Aliko Dangote and Seyi Tinubu also got recognized.
The Port Harcourt-based investor who bagged a slot in the Africa Legends 100 brand personalities in Abuja last weekend revealed the cause of the housing crisis, saying the most prominent factor is when Africa departed from indigenous building systems and materials to imported and monetised building materials. “When we were building with local materials, nobody in African villages was homeless, but when these highly monetised and imported materials took over, the alarming rate of homelessness or housing deficiency is shocking.”
On the impact of his work on Africa, he stated that he has taken it upon himself to reduce or try to eliminate the housing deficit in Nigeria and Africa through solutions that he said were simple and sustainable, mainly through collaborations. “So, I call myself the most collaborative businessman in Africa.”
He said: “All we have done is to build our perception because our flagship the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City is being constructed this year and we are moving from perception to brand experience. Our vision is for our brand experience to be stronger than our brand perception.”
On the rising spate of building collapse in Nigeria, the strategist admitted that Nigeria faced challenges on building integrity. “Why you see houses collapsing in Nigeria and Africa is that the bureaucracy or political office holders that have compromised on established standards.
“Another is that they are in political power they know there will be no consequences of such approvals of sub-standard (houses).”
He suggested thus: “What the government should be doing to address this is to embrace the tested system called Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). But right now, the failure of PPP is when they replaced the private with ‘political’.
“But when the government can go into actual PPP and have private institutions or individuals contracted with regulating the standard, when a house collapses and a private individual knows he will suffer, I assure you no house will collapse in Africa.”
On how societies are built on the motivation of their citizens, the Mayor of Housing rejoiced and said awards and recognitions had a way of building societies by igniting inner desire to do more, saying sometimes, a path on the back could be much better than alert in the bank.
He made it clear that his group has many strategies and solutions in their kitty. “The reason we are starting from Port Harcourt is that it is one of the most beautiful cities that have been underdeveloped in Nigeria and has more potential than even most of the developed cities in Nigeria. And what we are doing is to open up Port Harcourt to the rest of the world.
“So, this award being a continental award with a global attention will not only bring the attention of the world to my brand but bring the attention of the world to the development we are bringing in Port Harcourt which is the world class ‘Sustainable Green Smart City’ project that will not only open up Port Harcourt but be a pilot scheme and a model from which we can replicate in every other part of not just Nigeria but Africa as a whole.”
He commended the organisers of the awards series, Peace Legend Awards, saying such effort needed to be deepened to unearth the real development going on in Africa and those behind it. “In Nigeria, there are so many persons doing very noble things that are not being recognised. The meritocracy industry is almost an endangered industry in Nigeria where you are almost fighting against the tide alone and not being recognized. So, this is adding feathers to our wings, knowing that what we are doing to push the development needle in Nigeria and Africa is being noticed.
He said his foreign technical partners were coming from Korea. “One beautiful thing about Korea is that, Korea went through the same development organogram like Nigeria or the development journey. In the early 70s and 80s, Korea was where Nigeria is today. So, they have seen what it takes to go from a third world country to where they are today.
“Apart from the fact that they are coming with technical support. They are coming with financial support, they are coming with something that is priceless which is experiential support because they have gone through this development path and they can see and tell the actual indices of development. That is why we are partnering with them and that is why even when they heard about this award, they have come to see it themselves and experience and can give us guidance from the experience they have and the experience we are having as a nation.”
The glamorous award ceremony brought together the who-is-who in private and public sectors; industry players and policymakers for the celebration of icons who have made significant impacts on peace-building and leadership.
It was a moment of conviviality as guests were entertained by a national cultural troupe, a former Nigerian Idol television talent show runner up, Francis Atela, and other comedians with the icing on the cake by the ace Nigerian comedian, musician and actor, Gordon, who hosted the event.
Reacting to the development, the Mayor of Housing, who is also known as a real estate success strategist and the CEO of the Construction and Housing Mayor Limited, said his biggest impression is the diligence exhibited by the organisers in fishing out genuine entrepreneurs working to push the case for Africa.
He noted that most of the time, even the regional bodies such as the African Union fail to create templates and procedures to dig deep to know both performing brands and personalities in the continent.
He said this seems to be the first time that the Peace Legends Awards has done actual due diligence and show that every part of Africa is part of the continent.
He said: “I have been doing my thing in Port Harcourt feeling like somebody in a local pond. To be discovered in the continental river that we are making a contribution, for me it is a double feeling; the feeling of being seen and rewarded; and the feeling of being challenged because by the time you are recognised at the continental stage, you now need to deliver value that is continental and global. So, I feel both impressed and challenged at the same time.”
