Using disruptive technology For Integrated Housing In Africa

For close to 50 years Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world in the provision of housing for its teeming population. The problem gets worse every day as African political leaders, whether out of ignorance or incompetence churn out one program after another aimed at solving the housing problem, we only have to wait for the next housing report that says the problem has gotten worse.

The African society is made up of the majority poor (85% of the population), the middle class (14% of the population) and the affluent (1% of the population). Even though we cannot with any certainty authenticate these figures, to the informed mind this comes close to reality.

November 23, 2016 is one of the days that will take a long time to forget. I had a Skype conference call with Dean Crawford about a wide range of issues relating to housing at the end of which this quote becomes instructive “Everyone can count the seeds in a fruit but only God can count the fruits in a seed.” Before meeting with Dean, I had followed and admired his work in solar energy and especially his presence in Niger where I am involved in arranging a solar project to commence. In all my endeavors my aim is to strive for excellence and to show results. For three hours I shared some of my passion with a person who is showing results. He is full of disruptive innovations that can and will change the fortunes of Africa and leap frog Europe and the Americas in terms of energy,

Dean’s work in solar energy is a solution to our integrated housing project using DC power, battery storage and DC appliances I am pleased to welcome him on board our big dream. Our dream will be implemented starting from Ghana because of our specific knowledge of the terrain and we hope to start in other African countries in under five years using Dean’s foot prints in francophone Africa

At the start of the current power crisis in Ghana in 2013, my attention was drawn to a disruptive technology in electricity provided for hair dressing salons and barbering shops in Ghana. The young man doing this amazing stuff was based in a municipality called Konongo in the Ashanti Region. When I had gathered sufficient information to track him and to find out what the technology was all about, how he developed it, how the cost could be lowered sufficiently for demand to go up, how he could be helped to raise finance to increase production, the young man I learned had been invited by an expatriate investor and was now resident in Tema. The young man’s telephone contact which he had left written in white chalk on his door post had been washed by rains and could therefore not be reached. If indigenous African folks could develop energy systems such as magnetic generators in 5kw to 10kw, and developed battery storage systems that could store up to a maximum 12 hours of power requirement for every household and Africa moved away from AC power to DC power, every corner of Africa would be powered by either solar or magnetic generators.

If you are wondering why a post on integrated housing project has an introduction which dwells on energy, you can aptly be described as someone with a fine mind. The truth is disruptive systems do not make sense to people with “fine minds” and that is why from now on I am going to leave out portions of this piece which will not make sense to “fine minds”.

Africa is capable of providing low cost, affordable, sustainable and relevant housing to all its citizens if resources (sand, plastic waste, clay and laterite and red mud) are managed by cool heads combining knowledge, skill and experience.

The housing deficit in Africa currently stands conservatively at about 120 million units and grows annually by about 10%. If there is a will to cut the deficit by half in 10 years which is achievable then 12 million new housing units must be constructed every year in addition to the annual requirement. The caveat for success in project countries is that:

?  Government interference must be reduced to zero.

? African government must create land banks for developers to acquire and develop different types of housing units.

? Greater emphasis must be placed on the lower end of the market and the following categories are clearly identifiable:

? Housing for first time owners and rental accommodation made up of one bedrooms with sitting room, toilet, bath and kitchen (50% of all new construction).

? The second category of housing is the two bedroom family homes, which will be offered for rental and/or sale. These houses will have two bedrooms, sitting room kitchen, toilet, storage room and bath. (40% of all new construction).

? The third category of housing will comprise three bedrooms with storage room, sitting room, kitchen, toilet and bath (8% of all new construction).

? The fourth category of housing will comprise four bedrooms, storage room, sitting room, kitchen, toilet and bath (2% of all new construction).

The buildings (brick and mortar) will be constructed of interlocking bricks with the finest of finishing. They will pass for polished bricks so that for some communities, there will be no plastering in the interior. The advantage of these brick houses is their green properties which enable the house require minimal cooling in the form of air conditioning. The other advantages that we can relate to is the speed with which we can complete the houses. We will adopt other technologies that will enable us complete homes as follows:

?  One bedroom detached house in 8 days.

? Two bedroom detached house in 10 days.

? Three bedroom detached house in 14 days

? Four bedroom detached house in 20 days

(This is disruptive technology and so “fine minds” are not expected to understand)

The newly constructed homes will have roofing just as disruptive as the brick and mortar. They will be made of plastic waste and sand. This will make our cost of cladding and roofing one of the lowest in the world. We are intent on using this system to rid Africa of the plastic waste menace that politicians have failed to solve for years. It is envisaged that when our community housing project takes off, Africa must brace itself to >>> IMPORT PLASTIC WASTE<<< (This is disruptive technology and so “fine minds” are not expected to understand)

Our project for all it is worth, has innovations we seek to introduce that are not currently featured in housing in Africa and if at all featured, are treated as the exception rather than the norm. Our interiors are expected to showcase beauty, convenience, style and cost-savings which will enable replication of the benefits to go round the continent and other parts of the world. Can you imagine floor and wall tiles made of plastic waste and sand? How disruptive can we get?

We will use other borrowed technologies from elsewhere in the world that we consider disruptive enough to feature in our project described as “out of this world.“ We will change the status quo but without fanfare when our multi-storey community housing project starts. We will complete floors in record time and achieve feats unimaginable as the methodology used can all be classified as disruptive.

In Africa, one of the disturbing development issues is sanitation; and provision of toilet facilities and disposal of same is problematic. Will our project contribute to solving our sanitation problem? Yes you bet! Our project will address household waste excluding lavatory and bathroom waste. All plastic waste will be treated as prime resource and other household waste will be delivered to other partners who will generate energy and other add on from them. Lavatory and bathroom waste will not pollute the environment but instead go through simple anaerobic treatment and be discharged into the environment as potable water. This will also use a new technology that does not require dislodging of the septic tank.

(This is a very disruptive technology that our project will pride itself in)

How will our ceiling look like and what will it be made of? I would personally wish that we use waste plus sand to press tiles measuring 4feet by 4feet and 1/4in thick.

Paving blocks will be made of sand and plastic waste and will provide the exterior style and elegance that we hope to bring to the residents of our housing estates. The methodology will disrupt what is available now and will be a big breakthrough for the control of plastic waste for African governments. For the countries that have already banned plastics from their countries, it will be time to reconsider those banning orders or risk being the first countries to import plastic waste in the very near future.

Equipment for the housing project will vary according to the nature of housing in question. For the residential homes, we are going to allow individuals to acquire their own land anywhere they wish to site their homes. Emphasis will be laid on places outside municipalities where land acquisition procedures are simpler. For example in Ghana some lands are controlled by the Lands Commission and land acquisition in those jurisdictions take forever to complete. In other areas lands are controlled by Stool Lands under the Ministry of Lands and Forestry. Land acquisition in those jurisdictions can be completed in 2months or less. As soon as land has been properly acquired, we then execute our unique arrangement that enables us to deliver a home to our client in less than 6 months. Our equipment will be a mix of low to high technology but our bottom line is delivery on our promise. We shall alter lives one person at a time and in the process, transfer technology, create real jobs, empower people with entrepreneurial abilities and in some cases create wealth in some of the remotest places in Africa.

Our concept of creating communities is borne out of our belief that when we create green communities and create jobs, entrepreneurs and wealth, we would create an unending circle of prosperity in any host community. These will then be replicated in other host communities which will take less time to complete. As far as the mind can see our goals will stretch to reach. We would create large estate housing projects in Africa which will be available for rental and outright purchase.

How will housing requirement be delivered? Every successful project must solve a problem. The bigger the problem, the easier it is to be a solution agent. I am very familiar with Akwatia in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In the early 90’s public officials were reluctant to be posted to the area. These officials did not find the environment conducive for them to relocate. Some of the reasons given were:

? Absence of good basic and junior high schools for their wards

? Inadequate housing for high caliber public officials

? Underdeveloped health facilities

? Absence of entertainment facilities

? Unreliable transportation from the area to the national capital and other municipal capitals.

I was privy to discussions to solve the first two which the officials considered the most important. We addressed the problem of schools by simply offering admission to the wards of eligible officials at the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited Primary and Junior High Schools. These schools are among the best in their class in Ghana. Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited also offered to house some of these officials in their estate houses. St. Roses Senior High School teachers were the biggest beneficiaries of this endeavor as about 13 tutors in all were provided very good accommodation. The district police commander, the circuit court judge, magistrate’s court judge and teachers from other schools were also accommodated under that scheme.

With respect to Health care, it was clear that some of the officials simply were complaining out of ignorance. Akwatia is home to St. Dominic’s Hospital which for decades has been the best hospital in the Eastern Region of Ghana and continues to be so today. I am aware that a lot of officials upon their first visit to the St. Dominic’s Hospital fell in love with it and dropped their complaint. The question of entertainment was real and I shared their concerns. The question of transportation was a difficult one to solve because of bad roads but over a period of time the private sector did their bit to improve the situation then but till today that problem has never been adequately resolved. I will forever argue for “Quality Leadership” if Africa is to progress. Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited agreed to admit senior public officials in the district to their members’ only GCD Club House and Kwaebibirem District Assembly all of a sudden became so attractive that public officials immediately were clamoring to be transferred there. Education, accommodation and entertainment was bundled as a service and delivered in a format disruptive enough to attract high caliber public officials to Kwaebibirem District.

(Can you appreciate how Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited used a disruptive solution to change the fortunes of a distressed district?)

Our Integrated Housing Project will do several disruptive things – not the buzz stuff –

? Will promote the use of solar as energy for the poor and the vulnerable

? Will promote DC power with battery storage system as opposed to AC power

? Will use roofing tiles made from plastic waste and sand

? Will use bricks for its building

? Will use floor and wall tiles made from plastic waste

? Will use water closet toilets that does not require excavation for the septic tanks

? Will construct a one bedroom detached house in 8 days

? Will construct two bedroom detached house in 10 days

? Will construct three bedroom detached house in 14 days

? Will construct four bedroom detached house in 20 days

I am very excited our special housing for deprived communities where we envisage the provision of rental accommodation for all teachers and nurses posted to remote locations. This aspect of our project assures teachers and nurses of decent accommodation with basic creature comforts like 24/7 solar lighting, all year potable water from boreholes that are either hand drilled or machine drilled, decent toilet facilities and low rent.

If you dare to dream enough and can identify with any of these and want to support by word or by deed, we welcome your views. We are also open to more disruptive ideas and we are pleased to acknowledge you if you so desire. You can always reach me by email sent to: [email protected] or visit www.willijohn.com