The Presidential Program for the Construction of Social and Economic Housing (PPLSE)

With the aim of facilitating access for every citizen to decent housing, the Government launched in 2012 the Presidential Program for the Construction of Social and Economic Housing (PPLSE). To achieve this, it initiated a program for the construction of social and economic housing with a target of 150,000 units by 2025. The execution of this project began with a partnership between the State and around fifty national and international real estate developers. These developers benefit from facilities such as:

• the provision of land plots at a lower cost;
• the construction of primary Roads and Various Networks (VRD);
• the granting of tax exemptions for the implementation of the programs;
• the capping of the buyer's credit rate at 5.5%.

 

By the end of 2022, the following results were recorded:

• approximately 2,000 hectares of land reserves mobilized;
• more than 100 billion FCFA committed by the State for the settlement of customary rights purges and the realization of primary VRD;
• over 360 billion in tax exemptions granted to developers;
• about 30,000 housing units completed across various sites, the main ones being Bingerville (40 ha), the Ado neighborhood in Yopougon (20 ha), Grand-Bassam (80 ha), and Songon (439 ha).

Number of planned, delivered, and established housing units

Sites	Planned Housing Units	Delivered Housing Units	Established Housing Units
PPLSE Sites	44,737	4,502	67
Bingerville	2,371	387	241
Grand-Bassam	2,131	225	2,094
Songon	6,800	705	4,218
Other Sites	33,435	3,185	12,814
PHLS Sites	4,629	996	2,657
FSH Sites	359	243	338
SETAM Sites (TEBC)	1,822	1,644	2,731
ANAH Sites	1,979	381	1,471
Total	53,526	7,766	27,564

Source : MCLU/ DLAF

Note : SETAM : Services for Developed Land

TEBC : Low-Cost Equipped Land

PHLS : Programs Outside Social Housing

FSH : Housing Support Fund

ANAH : National Housing Agency (formerly SICOGI)

 

 

To accelerate the PPLSE, the Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Urban Planning (MCLU) plans to:

• call on developers and builders with strong technical and financial capacities. Agreements for the realization of more than 465,000 housing units have already been signed;
• establish a rental-purchase and simple rental mechanism;
• move towards purging through dation to reduce the risks of delays in the payment of customary rights purges. Purging through dation is a mechanism whereby the compensation offered to holders of customary rights is in kind (transfer of a portion of developed and titled land), rather than in cash;
• utilize Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for the development of sites and the construction of housing.

In this context, the Government has undertaken reforms related to the management and financing framework of social housing. It has also initiated several programs, including the Expanded Housing and Land Development Program (PELAF) and the emergency program for the construction of 25,000 social and economic housing units, of which 20,000 are in the Abidjan District and 5,000 in the interior of the country.

 

Reforms in the Management and Financing of Social Housing

The reforms in the management and financing of social housing have focused on:

• the creation of the National Housing Agency (ANAH) to replace SICOGI, with the mission of facilitating access to housing at competitive acquisition or rental costs for all households and ensuring the improvement and maintenance of living conditions;
• the establishment of the Social Housing Guarantee Fund (FGLS). The FGLS is responsible for financing the activities of ANAH, facilitating access to buyer credit for the most disadvantaged social groups, and contributing to the financing of all actions promoting the development of social housing;
• the recapitalization of the Housing Bank of Côte d'Ivoire (BHCI) with a strategy reoriented towards real estate financing to enable it to be the preferred actor in housing financing;
• the adoption of ordinance No. 2021-858 of December 15, 2021, instituting parafiscal taxes on Cement, Reinforcing Steel, and Marble. This measure aims to create favorable conditions for stable and sustainable financing of social housing.

 

Perspectives

Looking ahead, the Ivorian Government, through the MCLU, intends to:

• continue the emergency program for the construction of 25,000 housing units by (i) seeking builders with strong technical capacity for the realization of works (Buildings, VRD), (ii) mobilizing long-term financial resources (maturity of 20 years or more) at concessional rates from financial partners;
• address the challenges posed by overcrowding in cities in Côte d'Ivoire, through the development of new cities via the implementation of the Smart Cities project that combines sustainable urban development with the improvement of the socioeconomic conditions of citizens.

Source : MCLU