African countries have expressed strong interest in replicating Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Housing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to improve affordable housing delivery across the continent.The model was presented by Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, Director-General of Nigeria’s Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, at the Second Forum for Public-Private Partnership Units in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nigeria was among five countries selected to present projects at the forum’s project clinic, alongside Malawi, Kenya, Djibouti and Côte d’Ivoire.
The Renewed Hope Cities programme is designed to deliver 100,000 housing units across selected Nigerian cities through a joint venture concession arrangement with the private sector. Unlike conventional PPP arrangements, the private-sector partner is responsible for providing the land, designing the housing scheme, financing construction and executing the project.
The financing structure leverages private investment, concessional loans and guaranteed buyers to deliver homes without direct public financing of construction. The model has already unlocked $125 million in private investment and cut project costs by 30 per cent.
The Nigerian model generated considerable interest during the question-and-answer session, with delegates seeking details on how its risk-sharing arrangements could be adapted to their respective countries. Particular attention focused on the off-taker guarantee and access to concessionary finance, mechanisms designed to reduce risk and make the projects bankable.
The discussions centred on how these mechanisms could be adapted to the circumstances of other African countries seeking to expand social infrastructure without placing excessive pressure on public finances. The model’s ability to deliver housing at scale while protecting public budgets is what has drawn interest from across the continent.
For African countries facing housing deficits and constrained public budgets, Nigeria’s model offers a template for leveraging private capital to deliver affordable housing. The approach aligns with broader efforts across the continent to use blended finance and PPPs to close infrastructure gaps.
The challenge now is to ensure that the model can be adapted to different contexts and that the risk-sharing mechanisms are robust enough to attract private investment at scale. If successful, the Renewed Hope Housing PPP could become a reference point for affordable housing delivery across Africa.
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