Africa Prefabricated Housing Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

Africa's prefabricated housing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 5.5% during the forecast period. Over the short term, investment in the housing construction industry will be driven by government spending in the infrastructure sector. The African continent has more than 1 billion people, and less than 10% of the people in its cities live in decent housing. According to a United Nations report, it is estimated that Africa needs 7,000 new houses every day to meet its housing needs, and prefabrication is the way to solve the problem of housing shortage in Africa.

The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. Over the next two years, growth is expected to remain impacted due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, across the residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors in Africa. In most African cities, affordable housing for the urban poor does not exist. About 15% of the world’s population lives in slums, and housing demand will only continue to increase. Prefabricated construction technology enables developers and governments to quickly build residential areas. Prefabricated houses have created affordable housing solutions and a large number of employment opportunities for local residents.

Due to the lack of the ability to provide housing on time in terms of human resources and materials, serious housing shortages exist across Africa. The lack of end-user financing and affordability makes the situation more difficult. The government and developers are constantly striving to find solutions that will make it possible for middle-income people to buy their own houses. Developers are seeing rapid urbanization as an opportunity.

Key Market Trends

COVID-19 Impact on Labour Force in South Africa

In South Africa, the labor market has been severely affected by COVID-19. Except for essential services and emergency repairs and maintenance related to the health sector, all work on the construction site was suspended. Global mass production closures, supply chain disruptions directly impacted Africa’s access to industrial parts and manufactured goods. The construction industry has also suffered a considerable blow, as the Association of Builders reported that they are facing cash flow challenges due to construction shutdowns.

Many companies faced obstacles like contractual obligations, resource availability, deliverables, health and safety measures, and project delays or cancellations. Due to these conditions labor force decreased drastically. Many migrant workers left the country and went to their home country. Many construction projects delayed due to the shortage of labor force in the country.

Government Initiatives Helping the Construction Industry

The construction industry's output has been severely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To help the economy recover from the crisis, in June 2020, the government announced a 10-year infrastructure investment plan worth 124.7 billion USD to invest in housing, energy, agriculture, transportation, water, health facilities, and the digital infrastructure sector. Officials from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), and South African Development Bank (DBSA) have pledged to support infrastructure construction and are expected to create more than 1.8 million jobs in the next 10 years.

In another positive development, in October 2020, the government launched an ambitious 60 billion USD economic reconstruction and recovery plan, which has four priority interventions: basic investment in facilities, expanding energy production capacity, creating jobs to support livelihoods, and industrial growth.

Competitive Landscape

Africa's prefabricated housing market is relatively fragmented. There are several international as well as domestic companies present in Africa's prefabricated housing market. Companies are implementing effective production technologies to minimize product costs and reduce related risks. High capital requirements and rapid technological advancement are important barriers to entry for new participants. The market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the increase in prefabricated housing construction building investments and upcoming major projects. Intensified competition has led to the emergence of many innovative and advanced solutions in the market, such as turnkey solutions and lightweight ceramic houses. Major players are Karmod Prefabricated Building Technologies, Kwikspace Modular Buildings Ltd., Cube Modular, Fabricated Steel Manufacturing, and Concretex.

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