Workshop 1: Voices of Materials Suppliers, Builders and Findings from Focus Groups

On the 25th of January, 2024, GIZ, CAHF, and the University of Rwanda held the inaugural Workshop in Kigali under the Urban Lab Project. The goal of the Urban Lab Project is to strengthen the provision of sustainable and affordable housing for low-income households (with incomes below 200.000 RWF per month) in Rwanda.

This presentation made during the workshop reports on findings from suppliers and households through focus groups and interviews conducted by the University of Rwanda, students of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (CEGE), within January 2024.

The Interviews with suppliers included:

• Small-scale builders and developers
• Building material suppliers

and aimed to investigate;

• Overview & history of the business
• Product(s) delivered & target market
• Means of financing
• Barriers to affordability & scale
• Key challenges & opportunities

On the other hand, focus groups with the households included:

• Households who own
• Households who rent

and sought to understand;

• Household circumstances & affordability
• Housing circumstances
• Key challenges
• Home improvement priorities