Housing poverty in Tanzania

2,340 people served in FY18
4 volunteers hosted in FY18
Projects: renovation, repair, auxiliary structures, advocacy

We seek alleviate housing poverty in Tanzania by improving the standard of living of low-income families via the construction of (or repairs leading to) decent and affordable homes.

Our local team started operations in 1986 in Kigoma region. In June 2009, a housing microloans programme known as “Makazi Bora” was established to help Tanzanian families improve or complete their homes.

A dire lack of houses

The housing need in Tanzania is estimated to be 3 million units with an annual increase of 200,000 units (Shelter Afrique). The existence of house deficit is very high with consideration of the quality of houses and congestions in line with important services like water and electricity.

Taking these factors into consideration, the housing deficit in urban Tanzania is estimated to be 1.2 million units, of which 36% are in Dar Es Salaam.

No basic services...

Moreover, income levels of most households in Tanzania are too low; 90% of the population can afford less than $45 on housing per month, and 68% can afford less than $23 per month (Housing Market Study, Tanzania, 2012).

Financing, though relatively increasing, is not affordable to most households.

or access to water & electricity

It is estimated that only 3% of the population can afford a mortgage.

In this view, it is estimated that demand for housing microfinance in Tanzania exceeds $400 million (Market Study on Housing Microfinance, Tanzania, 2012).

According to UNICEF (2011) only 46% of population has access to safe drinking water. Most houses have no registered title deeds.

How we help fight housing poverty in Tanzania

Our role under our local housing microfinance programme “Makazi Bora’ is to provide housing micro-loans in order to enable low-income…

Our role under our local housing microfinance programme “Makazi Bora’ is to provide housing micro-loans in order to enable low-income families to live in affordable and decent houses. It provides financing to cover house repairs, renovation and house completion.

Water and sanitation improvements are also supported. Since the establishment of Makazi Bora, about 5,700 families have benefited from a microfinance loan.

In the next five years, in addition to retail lending, We are planning to address housing needs by working on a number of lines of business.

Key facts & figures

Capital: Dodoma
Main country facts: Gained independence in 1961
Population – circa 63.85 million
Urbanisation – 36.7%
Life expectancy – 70.19 years
Unemployment – 10.3%
Poverty line – 26.4%

House Insurance and Advocacy

The aim is to mitigate risks of households on losing their houses and properties in events of disasters like floods and fire.

We will participate in advocating for relevant policies that affect households in issues such as housing, land and microfinance. We are an active member of Tanzania Housing Microfinance Working Group, whose main objective is to advocate for better housing and related matters in the country.

Volunteer Engagement & Fundraising

In order to enhance services to beneficiaries, we will explore opportunities for engaging volunteers who would like to participate in its services.

We will have fundraising strategies in order to facilitate execution of its programme activities.

Internship Engagement, Organisational Development & Households Development

We will engage in internship programmes with relevant colleges/universities in order to enable students to acquire experience on issues of housing and related services.

We will have strategies to develop its organization in order to ensure sustainability.

We will have strategies concerning capacity building for households on housing issues and related matters such as land rights and financial education.