File photo shows the construction site on May 5, 2017 by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), a Chinese company undertaking the first phase of the Vision City project, which is part of the Rwandan government's efforts to solve housing challenges in the capital city Kigali. The first phase of the project, the biggest housing project in Rwanda, is consisted of 504 units of villas and apartments. According to the plan, after all the four phases are completed, the project will have the capacity to accommodate over 22,000 people. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)
KIGALI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda has launched the construction of 2,000 affordable housing units for average income earners, as part of the government's efforts to address affordable housing "crisis" in urban areas in the country.
Access to affordable housing in urban areas of Rwanda most especially in the capital Kigali is quite challenging for low income earners, said Rwandan minister of infrastructure Claver Gatete at the launch of 2,000 affordable housing units in Nyamirambo sector, Nyarugenge district in Kigali.
"With the construction of these affordable housing units, we expect average income earners in Kigali to easily find an affordable and decent accommodation at an affordable price," said Gatete.
Gatete also said that the housing units will be constructed with environmentally friendly building materials, which will be produced locally.
The targeted home owners are those within the income bracket of between 220 U.S. dollars per month and 771 U.S. dollars per month, according to developers.
The units will sit on a 30-hectare piece of land between Nyamirambo and Rebero sector in Kigali and the entire project will cost over 50 million U.S. dollars and will easily accommodate about 10,000 residents, according to them.
According to last year's Housing Market study conducted by research institute International Growth Center in Kigali, about 700,00 new housing units are needed by 2028, where 70 percent of them lay in affordable housing category.
