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This open access book utilizes new data to thoroughly analyze the main factors currently shaping the African housing market. Some of these factors include the supply and demand for housing finance, land tenure security issues, construction cost conundrum, infrastructure provision, and low-cost housing alternatives. Through detailed analysis, the authors investigate the political economy surrounding the continent´s housing market and the constraints that behind-the-scenes policy makers need to address in their attempts to provide affordable housing for the majority in need. With Africa´s urban population growing rapidly, this study highlights how broad demographic shifts and rapid urbanization are placing enormous pressure on the limited infrastructure in many cities and stretching the economic and social fabric of municipalities to their breaking point. But beyond providing a snapshot of the present conditions of the African housing market, the book offers recommendations and actionable measures for policy makers and other stakeholders on how best to provide affordable housing and alleviate Africa´s housing deficit. This work will be of particular interest to practitioners, non-governmental organizations, private sector actors, students and researchers of economic policy, international development, and urban development.

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1. Introduction.- 2. The Housing Sector in Africa: Setting the Scene: The Political Economy.- 3. Housing Finance in Africa.- 4. Unlocking Land Markets and the Provision of Infrastructure for Affordable Housing in Africa.- 5. The Construction Cost Conundrum in Africa.- 6. Slum Upgrading and Housing Alternatives for the Poor.- 7. Conclusion.

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Issa Faye is Manager of the African Development Bank´s Research Division. He previously worked for the World Bank´s Research Department and Rural Development Network of the Africa Region in Washington, DC, USA. He has lectured at the University of Auvergne, France, where he received a PhD in Economics from the Centre for Studies and Research on International Development.
El-Hadj M. Bah is Principal Research Economist in the Development Research Department at the African Development Bank. He has lectured at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has published numerous articles on growth and development. He received a PhD in Economics from Arizona State University, USA.
Zekebweliwai F. Geh is a Policy Advisor in the Development Research Department at the African Development Bank. Prior to this, he worked at the World Bank Group, Bank of America, and as a Research Fellow in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Alliance at the University of Miami, USA. He earned a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, USA.

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