Affordable Prefabricated Housing for Everyone

China assists Liberia to facilitate sustainable infrastructure development

Towards a Solution

In 2017 and 2018, the China Africa Business Council (CABC), together with the China South-South Development Center and Hengtong Lux Wood of China, designed an affordable housing construction scheme to address the obstacles and improve the status of Liberian construction, by providing one-stop services, including architectural design, building material production, centralized procurement, logistics and transport, as well as on-site technical training. With innovative prefabricated building skills, the main components of the project include training on walls, floor slabs, windows, doors and structures prefabricated at the factory, where they are assembled quickly, based on drawings.  

The programme started with on-site research into prefabricated housing in Liberia, which aimed to identify feasible technologies for prefabricated homes in the country. Demonstration and capacity-building activities were then carried out t in Monrovia using existing prefab projects; finally, experience-sharing and workshops for housing officials and technicians were organized in Liberia and China. The capacity-building workshops were provided to local workers, who were taught building methods and skills through demonstrations of prototypes. The training focused on construction methods, structural stability, waterproofing, moisture-proofing and anti-corrosion treatments.  

The programme makes a positive contribution to Liberia’s economic development and improvement of livelihoods. It coordinated the participation of more than 200 people specializing in design, production, procurement, logistics and construction, etc. Furthermore, it created more than 300 jobs for Liberians in fields such as construction, retail, catering and service industries, increasing their average income by over 30 per cent. The project contributed to Sustainable Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 1 (No Poverty). It also contributed to the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) Priority Areas 1 (Productive capacity) and 5 (Human and social development).  

The project highlights the advantages of affordable assembly-type buildings in terms of construction speed, comfort, safety, economy and practicality, which constitutes a new construction technology system that is suitable for Liberia and meets the basic demand of the poor both there and in neighbouring African countries. Housing is the basis for a country to improve people’s livelihood and boost economic development, and African countries, taking Liberia as an example, need technological assistance to build their own construction industry.