Government urges adoption of global innovations to tackle housing challenges

What the report says

Nile Post reports that Uganda’s Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is encouraging the construction sector to draw on international building innovations while tailoring them to Uganda’s local realities. The call was made in Kampala ahead of the BuildCon International Expo, where Commissioner for Human Settlements David Khayangayanga said technologies such as energy-saving building designs and digital land information systems could help respond to the country’s housing and infrastructure pressures if adapted appropriately.

According to the report, the three-day expo is scheduled for August 6 to 8 and is expected to host more than 100 exhibitors from Uganda and several other countries, including India, China, Kenya, France, Turkey, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. The event is intended to showcase new construction materials, methods, technologies and management systems that can make building work more efficient, affordable, safer and environmentally sustainable.

The ministry also plans to use the exhibition to explain key policies and legal frameworks affecting housing and urban development. These include the National Housing Policy, National Urban Policy, Physical Planning Act, Condominium Property Act and the Digital Land Information System. Khayangayanga said the ministry wants the public and industry players to learn from both global and local innovations that can support sustainable construction.

The Nile Post article cites examples from countries such as China, Japan, Singapore and the UAE, where prefabrication, modular construction, Building Information Modelling, smart buildings and energy-efficient designs have been used to improve urban development. The ministry’s position is that Uganda could benefit from similar approaches, provided they are localized to fit the country’s climate, economy, regulations and development needs.