The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has called for the adoption of cooperative housing as a sustainable and inclusive strategy to address Africa’s growing housing deficit.
He made the call in Abuja on Wednesday during the Cooperative Housing Summit Africa 2026, themed “Catalysing Adequate Housing For All Through Cooperatives: Leveraging Digital Finance for Cooperative Housing.”
Abdullahi described the summit as more than a routine gathering, noting that it represents a strategic effort to reposition cooperative housing as a viable solution to Africa’s housing challenges.
He observed that access to affordable housing remains a major challenge across the continent, particularly for low- and middle-income earners, including farmers, artisans, traders, transport workers, students, women, youths, persons with disabilities, and informal sector workers.
According to him, rising housing costs, limited mortgage access, rapid urbanisation, and weak housing infrastructure continue to worsen the situation.
“The reality before us is clear. Conventional housing finance systems alone cannot solve Africa’s housing crisis. This is why the cooperative model has become more relevant than ever before,” he said.
The minister explained that cooperative housing has proven globally to be an effective tool for reducing homelessness, strengthening communities, and expanding access to affordable homeownership, adding that Africa must deliberately embrace the model as part of its development strategy.
He also announced plans for a National Cooperative Digital Architecture Platform that would integrate identity management, financial intelligence, regulatory compliance, and operational systems to improve transparency and trust in the sector.
Abdullahi stressed that solving Africa’s housing deficit would require strong collaboration among governments, cooperatives, private developers, fintech companies, telecom operators, development finance institutions, and community organisations.
He further urged African governments to strengthen policy frameworks, simplify land administration processes, enhance regulatory systems, and create incentives for affordable housing investment, while calling on cooperative bodies to uphold transparency, innovation, and good governance.
“The cooperative sector is a sleeping giant, and we have begun to awaken it,” he said.
He also commended the Cooperative Housing Africa Group, the Cooperative Housing Federation of Nigeria, the Federal Department of Cooperatives, Cooperative Housing International, GBB Ventures, and other partners for convening the continental summit.
Earlier, a representative of the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Pemi Temitope, praised the initiative, describing cooperative housing as a practical pathway to expanding access to affordable homeownership through collective savings and shared responsibility.
He added that digital finance would play a key role in improving transparency, credit access, and mortgage administration across both formal and informal sectors.
