Africa-Press – Namibia. The National Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme (NISUP), which is aimed at assisting families transform their temporary structures into dignified, permanent homes, has proven a hit amongst National Housing Enterprise (NHE) beneficiaries.
The Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme is a partnership between the NHE, the government, regional councils, and local authorities, aimed at improving conditions in areas with informal housing by building new homes for low-income residents.
The NISUP was launched in 2024.
Gisbertus Mukulu, NHE Chief Executive Officer told New Era this week that the NHE has prioritise the programme and has already rolled it out to a few major urban centres.
“In partnership with local authorities across the country, the NHE has identified serval serviced informal settlements in the towns of Opuwo, Ondangwa, Rundu, Tsandi, Katima Mulilo, Otjiwarongo, Oshakati, Walvis Bay, Mariental and Nkurenkuru to mention a few.
For a full list and more information, I encourage all Namibians to contact their nearest NHE branch or local authority.”
NHE has been working closely with local authorities to ensure that basic services of water, sewer and electricity are placed before handing over the brand-new houses to beneficiaries.
Informal settlers are predominantly internal migrants from rural areas or other towns, as well as young people looking for jobs, better income, education, and other essential services. This migration to urban centres has pushed the need for decent and affordable housing up. Currently, the NHE faces a housing backlog of 300 000, with 120 000 applicants on its waiting list since 2005, largely owing to these dynamics.
The company has however committed itself to easing the backlog.
During the current financial year, the enterprise has already constructed close to 200 houses.
The annual target is a total of 905 project houses, plus an additional 2,000 units under the ISUP, bringing the yearly goal to nearly 3,000 new homes, according to the NHE.
At the same time, Namibia is currently grappling with a deficit of affordable serviced land and housing.
A limited supply of new property in urban centres has resulted in a sizable shortfall of formal housing, leading to stark increases in house prices, especially in urban areas.
Mukulu said the company has been doing its best with available resources, citing the lack of land as a challenge.
He said despite being prepared to roll out several housing initiatives, the limited availability of serviced land at times halt such process.
For this, they rely on local authorities to provide the much needed serviced land.
However, even local athorities are also challenged to service land to meet the surging demand of houses in urban centres. NHE depends on local authorities to provide land for projects.
However, land scarcity has been a challenge that we continuously try to resolve through engagements with local authorities, who are custodians of land,” he said.
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