Housing is a major challenge in many African countries. From Kenya to Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, there seem to be a housing crisis in the continent and many Africans are complaining about how difficult it is to get budget-friendly and equally habitable apartments. It is the same in Burkina Faso. The rate of urbanisation has increased over the years and it is projected to reach 35 percent by 2026.
Urbanisation is often synonymous with improving the physical living environment of the population, however, the population growth in Burkina Faso is accompanied by disjointed urbanisation, and a lack of access to decent housing, especially for the poor. It also means that a large chunk of the population does not have access to basic infrastructure.
With COVID-19 placing a heavy burden on the country’s already fragile economy, homelessness in Burkina Faso may begin to seem hopeless and endless. But that isn’t the case! As in many African countries where innovators are stepping up to create a better system where citizens have access to resources, Marc Arthur Wourougou is doing the same in Burkina Faso.
To bring solutions to precarious housing problems in Burkina Faso, Marc Arthur Wourougou, a pharmacist and engineer, ‘turned to the earth’, ‘exploited the land,’ and made it suitable to make decent housing for the population.
Two years ago, he founded NICE Sarl, a construction company that is providing decent housing for the low-income population in Burkina Faso. NICE Sarl’s homes are built with bricks, offer sustainable constructions that are solid, have different aesthetics, and are also eco-friendly.
Beyond providing housing for citizens, NICE Sarl is also improving infrastructure in communities and the people’s access to them. One of the biggest impacts they have created is building a hospital in a rural community. Prior to that, people had to travel long distances to access healthcare.
Like many other innovations, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on NICE Sarl’s production process, but they are rising above that and are committed to building eco-friendly housing options for the citizens of Burkina Faso.
Like Marc Arthur Wourougou, African innovators are forging ahead in the midst of a raging pandemic and driving innovation in the continent.
Read the full 2021 Goalkeepers Report here.
Watch his story here:
#Goalkeepers2030 #AfricaMovesInnovation