# About AIHS
Africa International Housing Show (AIHS)
2023 AIHS Theme:
Beyond Rhetorics to Homes: Making Housing Happen
According to Mauro Guillen renown Wharton Professor of business innovation and strategy, “The only possible response to change is change itself”. The year 2020 and the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic has been globally resonating with the need for affordable taking center stage as an essential tool for protecting and preventing the spread of the pandemic both in emerging and advanced nations of the world.
As with previous health pandemics, the novel coronavirus is testing the crisis response capacities of countries and the resilience of key sectors of the economy. In the frontlines are health and housing. It is in view of the change that has been brought on by the pandemic that the AIHS theme of the 15th edition examined “Sustainable and Resilient Housing Solutions for A Post Pandemic World.” The 2021 edition of the AIHS took an exploratory look at the various emerging solutions and strategic response linked to housing finance and how these solutions could help Nigeria attain our thus far elusive delivery of affordable housing.
In 2022 AIHS explored critical issues like Impact, Sustainability, Inclusion, Population growth, Technological Innovation, Diversity and Inequality. Given the backdrop of Nigeria’s challenging macroeconomic landscape (economic decline and heightened security risk), the AIHS also evaluated Nigeria’s housing financing and development challenges and opportunities for the present and future in line with global mandates and sessions.
AIHS 2022 had over 30,000 attendees from over 15 countries with no less than 34 speakers from different walks of life to discuss issues revolving around the theme of the event: ‘Housing for All: The Role of Government in Creating an Effective Enabling Environment’.
Housing the Critical Mass:
The issue of affordability puts access to housing finance at the heart of resolving the housing crisis in Nigeria. For many western countries such as the USA, UK, a rough outline of the formula that has worked blends two major approaches. One is the implementation of social housing programs that are funded and subsidized by central governments to underprivileged citizens. The other is the creation of an enabling environment that encourages private sector investments in housing and the promotion of long-term mortgages as a path to homeownership. Underlying both approaches is the social need to eliminate the huge initial capital outlay that housing entails so that economically active citizens can own homes and pay conveniently over time.
In Nigeria, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders have brought into sharp focus the poor state of housing in the country thus, questioning the scale of effectiveness of stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of Covid-19. Low levels of investments in the provision of affordable housing across key segments of the society has created a housing deficit that is estimated at about 23 miIIion units. The AIHS and HDAN also hopes to continue its advocacy on the need to connect housing policy and development initiatives towards meeting the housing needs of low-income subscribers for increased impact.
Technology and Housing Finance Solutions:
The AIHS and our sister advocacy platform HDAN believes in a future where housing finance and development will factor social and environmental impact into all types of investment decisions as the new normal across private and public sectors. In order to achieve this, the AIHS in 2023 at the 17th edition will be promoting discuss and engagement on the implementation of digital and technological innovation targeted and delivering housing development, and best practices and norms in the use of data to inform impact policy/investment decisions and driving impact policy adoption in housing finance in Nigeria.
Affordable Housing & Sustainability Focused Solutions:
The AIHS is a major advocate for balancing the housing need with the protection of the environment for future generations. The trustees and think tanks for the AIHS and Housing Development Advocacy network (HDAN) are abreast of the data on global warming and the deteriorating conditions under the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario in which housing development has thus far been delivered in opposition to the growing need to meet climate goals as well as combat flooding and other disasters. The AIHS 15th edition will explore these issues as part of the Housing and Sustainability session to review policies, innovations and financing opportunities as part of discussions on Climate & the Environment.
The session will avail stakeholders, investors and climate and sustainability practitioners the opportunity to discover available and emerging housing investment solutions in both developing and developed markets, targeted at tackling climate change mitigation and adaptation, and explore how capital can lead the way in meeting the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals while delivering on housing needs in Nigeria.
Housing Market Development and Policy in a Pandemic:
The AIHS platform is a strong advocate for the symbiotic relationship between housing finance and impact investing geared towards the resolution of pressing social and environmental challenges like the current COVID-19 Pandemic. As part of the Housing market development session during the 15th AIHS, stakeholders, investors and participants will explore how to more effectively and efficiently contribute to the success of the housing finance market and be charged with the responsibility of increasing the pipeline of available housing policy and investment development opportunities in the face of a public health challenge. The Housing Market Development Sessions will tackle various points of intersection between stakeholders along the housing value chain and impact investment issues covering areas like housing investment policies, health innovations, social housing investment management, and public health impact and risk etc.
