The National Mass Housing Development Programme in Namibia, Africa plans to build 185,000 modular houses by 2030 to ease the critical housing shortage. A Chinese-Namibian company called Afrina, a joint venture of the government with Sinotech Modular Housing of China, utilizes construction techniques that enable the building of a two-bedroom house in one week. According to newera.com.na, Professor Gangfu Yang of Afrina says this technology is being used in 15 other African countries as well as in other parts of the world, and reduces the price of a modern home by 30 percent. Noting a demonstration house that is at the Habitat Research Centre in Windhoek, he says it is stronger and safer than conventional houses, and provides ample moisture insulation and ventilation, and is also fireproof. As he tells MHProNews.com, “Most of the materials can be sourced locally and we are already in the process of training locals on the correct use of this technology. Once labourers construct three houses using this system they will master the use of the technology. We already used local labourers to construct this demonstration house.”
