Housing Infrastructure in Angola
Angola is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in Africa. The National Census of Population and Housing conducted in 2014 shows that Angola is now among the 12 most populous African countries and is the fourth largest in the SADC region. Angola’s capital city Luanda with its urban population of 6.5 million is the fifth largest urban metropolitan area in Africa and one of the most expensive to live in.
The demand for housing and urban basic services that had been building up over the 40 years of conflict has resulted in a shortfall of housing of two million units. The Household Poverty Survey carried out in 2009 by the National Statistical Institute estimated that 90 percent of urban housing was sub-standard and needed substantial investment to upgrade it to acceptable living standards.
ACP’s investment objectives in response to the challenges faced by the Angolan construction industry was to increase investment in the construction sector through provision of financial and capacity building support. To achieve the above outcomes, ACP invested in Betablocos, a manufacturing company that produces and sells prefabricated cement building materials such as cinder blocks, paving blocks, curbs, lintels and others. Betablocos had managed to differentiate itself through high quality standards which made it one of the few external suppliers compliant with a modern construction process.
Betablocos
Betablocos manufactures and sells more than 5 million building blocks to building and construction clients both in Angola and the region annually. This is equivalent to the materials needed to build more than 1,700 average Angolan homes per year.
