Overview
Western Sahara lies in the Maghreb[1] desert region, in the north-western part of the continent. It is bordered by Mauritania, Algeria and Morocco while on the western front it is bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean. According to the latest Worldometer estimate of September 2022, the territory has a population of 629 873 people living on 266 000 km2 of land. Due to the vast expanse of arid land, the population density is extremely low—approximately 2 persons per km². However, the low average density is not reflective of the densities throughout. For example, in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, the population is estimated at 196 331 meaning close to a third of the territory’s population lives in the capital. Overall, about 86.8% of Western Sahara’s population lives in urban areas.[2]
An issue that has plagued Western Sahara over the years is its self-governance, or the lack thereof. The territory is among the 17 non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations (UN)[3] and the sovereignty of the territory is highly contested. The dispute is a result of several issues at play. Western Sahara was colonised by Spain until the Spanish regime relinquished their reign over the territory in 1975.[4] More conflict ensued at that point when Morocco and Mauritania lay claim to different portions of the territory but the indigenous Sahrawi people, led by the Polisario Front, wanted self-governance. Morocco and Mauritania’s claims were agreed upon by the two countries in a bilateral agreement, however this agreement was deemed null by the Polisario Front who did not give their concession to the two countries’ taking over the territory. The Polisario Front’s assertion was bolstered by Algeria’s support for their cause. One of Morocco’s primary concerns is that self-governance for the Sahrawi people may breed increased terror activities from groups such as Al Qaeda who are already operating in the region.[5]
Between 1975 and 1991, there was an armed struggle in the region which saw Mauritania releasing their entitlement to Western Sahara. The guerilla warfare resulted in the Polisario Front controlling a fifth of Western Sahara and Morocco having control of 80%. During this time the Polisario Front, as representatives of the Sahrawi people, declared themselves a sovereign republic in 1976 and established the official name Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) which is a recognised member of the African Union (AU) and is officially acknowledged by many countries. The armed conflict ended with a UN negotiated ceasefire in 1991.
A heavily fortified buffer strip (known as the Berm) with landmines now separates the western region controlled by Morocco from the Polisario Front controlled eastern region of Western Sahara. Polisario Front troops recently breached the ceasefire in 2020 after Moroccan troops entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone, sparking a renewed conflict. The Polisario Front still strongly maintains their position on full self-governance and they cited this as the primary reason why they broke the ceasefire.[6]
However, it is the fight over valuable resources such as renewable energy and water that is fueling the ongoing conflict. Worth over MAD5.4 billion (USD$500 million), the fisheries and phosphates industries are a particular area of contention.[7] The territory is rich in phosphates thus one of the dominant trades in Western Sahara is phosphate mining. The coastal location is also strategic in terms of the economy, as it supports a strong fisheries industry in Western Sahara with both professional fishermen and locals going out into the northern Atlantic to fish. The tourism sector has also brought in some good revenue over the years, but its success was curtailed by the restrictions that came with the Covid-19 pandemic.[8]
As far as the affordable housing sector is concerned, Western Sahara in 2022 did not have any data about the number of residential mortgages outstanding, the value of residential mortgages outstanding, and the minimum and maximum mortgage rates. Furthermore, there was no data on the maximum Loan to Value (LTV) ratio on residential mortgages. The country does not have a foreclosure policy and there is no publicly disseminated residential real estate price index. Moreover, there is no data on maximum mortgage terms and the government does not publish any data about land prices in the main urban centers. The government does not provide subsidies on the funding and lending side of mortgage lending.[10]
[1] Statista (2021). Maghreb region – Statistics & Facts. https://www.statista.com/topics/4660/maghreb-region/#topicHeader__wrapper (Accessed 21 September 2019).
[2] Worldometer (2022). Western Sahara Population Live. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/western-sahara-population/#:~:text=Western%20Sahara%202020%20population%20is,of%20the%20total%20world%20population (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[3] United Nations (2020). Non-Self-Governing Territories. https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[4] BBC News (2021). Western Sahara profile. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14115273 (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[5] Wikipedia (2020) Western Sahara conflict. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara_conflict (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[6] Africa News (2021). UN launches renewed bid to resolve conflict in Western Sahara https://www.africanews.com/2022/01/16/un-launches-renewed-bid-to-resolve-conflict-in-western-sahara// (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[7] LSE International Development (2021). Climate change and the important role it plays in the Western Sahara conflict.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationaldevelopment/2021/03/23/climate-change-and-the-important-role-it-plays-in-the-western-sahara-conflict/ (Accessed 21 September 2022)
[8] Moody’s analytics (2022). Western Sahara – Economic Indicators https://www.economy.com/western-sahara/indicators#ECONOMY (Accessed 21 September 2022).
Availability of Data on Housing Finance
Western Sahara’s disputed sovereignty as a state has undermined the legitimacy of its government, thus undermining its capacity too. Systems and state entities that champion data collection, analysis, management and reporting are not in place. For example, there is no official bureau of statistics in the territory.
The data provided in this country profile is mainly sourced from surveys and data collection initiatives undertaken by stakeholders outside of government, most of which are international. Given the limitation on the availability of data, some of the data shared in this year’s profile is the same data obtained in 2021.
The INDC (2021) released by the Office of the President provides significant recent information of the country’s resources and infrastructure in support of housing.
Green Applications for Affordable Housing
Western Sahara is largely characterised by sunny weather and strong winds for most of the year. This makes the territory ideal for renewable energy. The Moroccan government has capitalised on the renewable energy potential that Western Sahara has by building three large wind farms (with five more in the pipeline) and two solar farms (with one more planned). Estimates show that Western Sahara’s carbon emissions are at 0.5t per capita which is relatively low compared to many other countries. The clean energy is by way of renewable wind energy which has been operational since 2013.[1] Currently Morocco has about 15% of solar energy and 18% of its wind energy coming from the territory and it is expected that by 2030, up to half of Morocco’s wind and a third of their solar energy will be from the Western Sahara.
However, the benefit of the clean energy has sparked some debate with the Polisario Front arguing that the renewable energy projects are only undertaken because Morocco is in serious need of energy. The Polisario Front view it as ‘greenwashing Morocco’s occupation’ of Western Sahara.They argue that the generated power benefits the Moroccan government and Moroccan people and not the Sahrawi people. Another argument posed is that the renewable energy projects by the Moroccan government were strategically located in Western Sahara to strengthen Morocco’s occupation of the territory.[2] Furthermore, the Polisario Front and some Sahrawi researchers have claimed that forced evictions of some local Sahrawi people took place in order to make way for the solar farms.[3]
Water resources are scarce as there are no permanent bodies of water in the country and water scarcity has added to the conflict. Water is provided by truck to nomadic families and is stored in tanks and bladders. Limited rainfall replenishes groundwater reserves periodically and during these times water can be accessed from wells. More recently solar pumps have been used to access groundwater in pilot-projects for small scale agriculture. The Association of Secours Sahraoui has implemented a Water for All project in the Liberated Territory. This has led to 30 wells being drilled, 70 000 – 100 000 people and 60 000 – 90 000 head of cattle supported and produces 1500-2000 m3 of water per day. This infrastructure is powered by solar and wind energy, at a total project cost of MAD16 million (US$1.48 million).[4] There are opportunities to expand solar pumping in the region as this pilot project has proven successful. Morocco has installed wastewater treatment and desalination plants in the Occupied Territory to support its settlement policies in the region.
The Office of the Prime Minister for the Government of the SADR, with the help of international experts, has prepared an Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the territory of Western Sahara, comprising both the Occupied Territory west and north of the Berm, and the Liberated Territory east and south of the Berm in 2021. The INDC summarises the conditions in the country and presents an overview for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the country and is critical of Morocco’s use of the natural resources. [5]
In terms of housing and infrastructure, the INDC notes that urgent action is needed to improve infrastructure and upgrade housing from tents and mud bricks, to more durable, low carbon footprint materials. The INDC also calls for the application of building standards to maximise passive cooling.[6] For dealing with water scarcity, adaptation measures based on water harvesting, storage and efficiency are urgently needed including the construction of additional reservoirs and systems for channelling and capturing runoff and small-scale domestic water harvesting and groundwater abstraction systems.[7] However, these actions are dependent on finding a solution to the conflict and international support and funding. Only the establishment of a cross-ministry unit for coordination of action on climate change is possible without international support.
[1] Western Sahara resource watch (2022). Dirty green energy on occupied land. https://wsrw.org/en/news/renewable-energy (Accessed 21 September 2022).
[2] Climate home news (2021). Morocco accused of “greenwashing occupation” of Western Sahara. https://climatechangenews.com/2021/11/25/morocco-accused-greenwashing-occupation-western-sahara/ (Accessed 21 September 2022)
[3] The Conversation (2021). Renewable energy is fuelling a forgotten conflict in Africa’s last colony.https://theconversation.com/renewable-energy-is-fuelling-a-forgotten-conflict-in-africas-last-colony-170995
[4] Office of the Prime Minister. (2021). Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). First Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution. https://vest-sahara.s3.amazonaws.com/wsrw/feature-images/File/438/61892f66d5311_SADR-NDC_2021.pdf (Accessed on 6 October 2022). Pg.26
[5] Office of the Prime Minister. (2021). Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). First Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution. https://vest-sahara.s3.amazonaws.com/wsrw/feature-images/File/438/61892f66d5311_SADR-NDC_2021.pdf (Accessed on 6 October 2022). Pg.1
[6] Office of the Prime Minister. (2021). Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). First Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution. https://vest-sahara.s3.amazonaws.com/wsrw/feature-images/File/438/61892f66d5311_SADR-NDC_2021.pdf (Accessed on 6 October 2022). Pg.25
[7] Office of the Prime Minister. (2021). Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). First Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution. https://vest-sahara.s3.amazonaws.com/wsrw/feature-images/File/438/61892f66d5311_SADR-NDC_2021.pdf (Accessed on 6 October 2022). Pg 27.
