Minister Canvasses Cooperative Approach Against Africa’s Housing Deficit

Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has called on African nations to embrace cooperative housing as a practical and inclusive solution to the continent’s widening housing deficit.

The minister stated this in Abuja yesterday during the Cooperative Housing Summit Africa 2026, with the theme, “Catalysing Adequate Housing For All Through Cooperatives: Leveraging Digital Finance for Cooperative Housing.”

He said the summit was not just another conference but a strategic movement aimed at positioning cooperative housing as a sustainable model for addressing Africa’s housing challenges.

“Housing is a catalyst for productivity and indeed national development. Yet, across Africa and indeed Nigeria, millions of our citizens, especially low and middle-income earners, continue to face severe housing challenges.

“Our farmers, artisans, traders, transport workers, students, women, youth, persons with disabilities, workers in the informal sector, and vulnerable communities are disproportionately affected by the increasing cost of housing, limited access to mortgage financing, urban migration pressures, and the weak housing infrastructure.

“The reality before us is clear. Conventional housing finance systems alone cannot solve Africa’s housing crisis. This is why the cooperative model has become more relevant than ever before,” the Minister said.

According to him, cooperative housing has proven globally to be an effective tool for reducing homelessness, strengthening communities, and expanding affordable homeownership, and he calls for Africa to adopt the model more deliberately as part of its development strategy.

He also disclosed plans for a National Cooperative Digital Architecture Platform that would integrate identity management, financial intelligence, regulatory compliance and operational systems to improve trust and governance within the sector.

He stressed that achieving adequate housing in Africa would require strong partnerships between governments, cooperatives, private developers, fintech firms, telecom companies, development finance institutions and community organisations.

He further called on African governments to strengthen policy frameworks, simplify land administration processes, improve regulatory systems and incentivise affordable housing investments, while urging cooperative institutions to embrace good governance, transparency and innovation.

“The cooperative sector is a sleeping giant, and we have begun to awaken it,” he said.

The minister also expressed appreciation to the Cooperative Housing Africa Group, the Cooperative Housing Federation of Nigeria, the Federal Department of Cooperatives, Cooperative Housing International, GBB Ventures and other strategic partners for convening a continental platform with the potential to reshape Africa’s housing future.

Earlier, a representative of the minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Pemi Temitope, commended the organisers for convening the summit, describing cooperative housing as a critical solution to Africa’s housing challenges.

He said cooperative systems offer practical pathways for expanding access to affordable home ownership through collective savings and shared responsibility, noting that digital finance would play a major role in improving transparency, access to credit and mortgage administration, particularly for citizens in both formal and informal sectors.