Will the affordable housing dream ever materialise in Ghana where several attempts to build affordable housing units for citizens of the state failed for decades? The evidence is so glaring as we keep recording huge housing and infrastructure deficits at every population census conducted since independence. The Ghana Population and Housing Census 2021 reported a housing deficit of about 1.8 million. The ripple-effect is what we see today – the dramatic increase in slum communities, unapproved settlements, and substandard residential structures across major cities in Ghana, particularly Accra.
The state tried to change the trajectory; and so did the private sector to bridge this ever-widening deficit, but all to no avail.
The good news, however bad the situation may be today, is that 66 Engineering Ltd. has reinvented the science, art and engineering of building standard residential houses that cost less than GH¢60,000 in the capital city Accra, and even much less in the other regions across the country.
At 66 Engineering, we provide our clients with several alternatives and opportunities for building standard, yet building cheaper residential homes that every Ghanaian can afford irrespective of one’s income level or class of society.
The project in the picture in this publication is one of our projects in Accra that has become the cynosure of all eyes for the past few weeks since we erected this structure. This is one of our interlocking bricks’ cheaper building solutions. The bricks, by design, have two (2) round holes and a small rectangular perforation in the middle. These holes are purposely for mortar joints, and in some cases, serve as conduits for plumbing pipes, electrical cable pipes, and bamboo or iron reinforcement.
Remember the technology is not the conventional clayed-fired bricks that have been in the system that we all know. This technology is in the family of the stabilised compressed earth. It is a ratio of cement, clay or laterite – in some cases giving us a brick with average compressive strength of 8Mpa, far higher than the average industry compressive strength requirements of a concrete block. The structure does not require plastering after building, no painting – you can polish it if only you want to brighten it or give it different colour designs. The colour of the house can be kept consciously by a selective choice of clay or laterite or a mixture of the two. The building maintains an environmentally friendly temperature that there will be no need to spend a dime on air conditioner installation nor the electricity to power them. Alternatively, one can garnish this structure with natural stone décor marbles to give it that luxurious taste.
The interior can be plastered depending on the taste and preference of the individual, or better still be sealed and polished with a special varnish cheaper than plastering and painting. Ceiling and lamp holders can be processed bamboo which is a local content input and environmentally friendly as well. Roofing can be locally made asbestos roofing slates common in the market, and the floor can be bamboo tiles, etc.
The reality is that you end up having a complete house with sound and superior structural integrity, eco-friendly, and 50 times cheaper compared to the conventional concrete house. Now is the time for us, as Ghanaians and Africans at large, to embrace these innovations reinvented by 66 Engineering to build that enviable motherland of African states for ourselves and posterity.
By this publication, we are therefore calling on all stakeholders in the building, construction and real estate industry, all governments in the African continent, regulatory bodies, civil society organisations, international and regional associations, non-governmental organisations, etc. a to rally behind this clarion call by patronising these innovations reinvented by this young company – 66 Engineering Ltd., and also spread the good news across the length and breadth of Africa. We are also appealing to all international bodies such as the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) through the EDGE initiative, the ECOWAS community, African Union, the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat for partnerships, investors, influencers, etc. so that 66 Engineering can do mass production of these Green Building Technology housing in gated estate communities to put shelter over the heads of the homeless majority of African people in our homeland Africa. You can reach us at: www.66engineering.com or send us a mail via [email protected] for further information. Remember that the future is always built today, and not tomorrow. Imagination is our hallmark at 66 Engineering. Do not sit on the fence, join the revolution now! 66 Engineering: Bringing Imagination to Reality!
The writer is a Managing Director of 66 Engineering Ltd.
Contact: +233209032280
