Housing Investment Landscapes: Zambia

This country report forms part of The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance’s (CAHF) Investor Programme which aims at addressing key information asymmetries on who, why and how investments are made in the African housing sector. With the intention of identifying and championing increased investment in affordable housing, the report includes insights and analysis into the depth and breadth of investment in Zambia’s housing and housing finance sector.

Zambia has struggled with the provision of affordable housing, as rapid population growth and urban migration has compounded the national housing deficit, which is forecast to grow to 3 million units by 2030. The development of the affordable housing market has been hampered by obstacles on both the demand and supply sides, including high financing costs, high transaction costs, bureaucratic land regulation and difficulty in obtaining title. The country has attracted a lot of foreign investment, predominantly from China, but very little has been directly allocated towards housing.

In general, foreign investors have preferred to invest indirectly through the financial sector, by financing banks through equity and debt. There are reasons for encouragement: new government schemes and huge pledges from foreign investors promising several thousand houses, falling interbank lending rates, as well as improvements in access to credit.