I will start by defining homelessness as the lack of a respectable, secure accommodation with access to clean water, sanitation and other public amenities that exposes the individual(s) or group(s) bereft of them to the vagaries and risks of weather, insecurity and public or private ridicule.

According to a report of the Secretary-General prepared for the United Nations Commission for Social Development quoted in the commissions’ press release on February 10, 2020, “the last time the United Nations attempted to count the global number of homeless people in 2005, it estimated that 100 million people were homeless.”  Referring to data from UN-Habitat, it stated that “globally, 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions, with about 15 million forcefully evicted every year”.[1]

Homelessness remains a global problem affecting developed, developing and underdeveloped countries alike. Africa though has a disproportionate number of the world’s homeless with Nigeria ranked as the country with the highest number of homeless people on the continent and around the world.

Data published by the World Population Review and quoted by Business Insider Africa for 2023 indicate that Africa had at least fifty four million one hundred and sixty seven thousand (54,167,000) homeless people in 2023[2]. With an estimate of approximately one hundred and forty million (140,000,000) homeless globally by other records, Africa currently warehouses about 38.7% of the world’s homeless; 17.4% of the global total from Nigeria alone.

RANK	COUNTRY	NUMBER OF HOMELESS PEOPLE
1	Nigeria	24,400,000
2	Egypt	12,000,000
3	DR Congo	5,332,000
4	Somalia	2,968,000
5	Sudan	2,730,000
6	Ethiopia	2,693,000
7	South Sudan	1,542,000
8	Cameroon	1,033,000
9	Mozambique	769,000
10	Burkina Faso	700,000
	TOTAL	54,167,000

  

Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations in the afore mentioned press release of February 10, 2020 is quoted to have said: ““Homelessness is a harmful form of systemic discrimination and social exclusion,” affecting people everywhere,.  Its causes are many and interrelated, ranging from the unraveling of working-class communities to substance abuse and “unchecked gentrification”.  He called for redoubled efforts “to rid the world of this inhumane scourge” through adequate, accessible and affordable housing, expanded social protection systems, and measures to mitigate the impact of climate change.”[3]

Although the causes of homelessness are varied, Liu Zhenmin may have rightly argued that the root causes for most are systemic discrimination and social exclusion. In Nigeria for instance, the majority of the country’s homeless in the northern and central regions are minority ethnic groups displaced by a system of aggression that appears to be reallocating ancestral lands to an entitled ethnic overlord.

Daniil Filipenco reporting for developmentaid.org appears to tacitly agree with Zhenmin as he notes that the causes of homelessness are many and interconnected. He lists some of these to include conflicts, natural calamities, lack of affordable housing and underemployment[4].

A granular examination of the top 10 countries in Africa with the highest number of homeless people seems to lend credence to the gargantuan contribution of conflict and war to homelessness.

In this sense, peace, justice and strong institutions, in itself an SDG target within and between countries will almost certainly dent the number of global homelessness if pursued wholeheartedly. But the West, led by Joe Biden’s USA doesn’t seem to be eager to deescalate ongoing conflicts; whether in the Middle East as in Israel-Hamas, Europe as in Russia-Ukraine or Africa as in the ongoing fratricidal conflict in the DRC.

There is equally an apparent weakness of the current international order to amicably resolve conflict between member states. Africa must therefore begin to deescalate its internal conflicts, resolving age-long underlying causes like illegal mining and expansionist land grabbing which fuels displacement and homelessness around the continent.

In the race to end homelessness and provide safe and affordable housing for all by 2030, Africa has its work cut out for it. The current rate of housing development on the continent will not aid the attainment of this target. Nigeria for one with the largest number of homeless people in the world has an estimated housing deficit of 17 million units.

Whereas the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) reports the yearly number of housing development in country between 200,000 to 300,000 units[5], the country’s Central Bank (CBN) has a more conservative estimate of 100,000 units[6]. This is a far cry from the 700,000 units per year estimated by the World Bank to be required to close the 17 million housing deficit in the West African country[7].

For Egypt, with an indicated housing deficit of about 3 million units in 2014, the World Bank estimates a yearly requirement of about 300,000 units to effectively bridge the gap. However, less than 200,000 units are built in the North African country each year.[8]

No matter where you look across the continent or for how long you look, Africa appears to be plagued by ‘self-inflicted’ problems affecting its ability to decisively end homelessness by 2030: Widespread corruption that diverts meager public resources intended for mass housing development, inflation of contracts for supposed ‘low-cost’ housing and inadequate rural infrastructure that tilts the population towards overcrowded urban centers. These are among policy challenges that must be overcome for the continent to have a fighting chance at attaining the target of decent and affordable housing for its burgeoning population.

According to the African Development Bank, “whilst population growth in other regions has slowed, Africa’s has increased by 2.4% per year for the past 30 years. By 2050, the African population is forecast to rise to at least 2.4 billion and will continue to grow to 4.2 billion, four times its current size in the next 100 years.”[9]

It is in the collective interest of stakeholders in Africa to immediately seek an end to homelessness and create sustainable systems for good quality mass housing delivery for present and future Africans. There are simply no other options on the table!

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[1] https://press.un.org/en/2020/soc4884.doc.htm

[2] https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/top-10-african-countries-with-the-highest-homelessness-rates-in-2023/9qrqpw6

[3] https://press.un.org/en/2020/soc4884.doc.htm

[4] https://www.developmentaid.org/news-stream/post/157797/homelessness-statistics-in-the-world

[5] https://punchng.com/less-than-300000-houses-being-built-annually-redan/

[6] Addressing Housing Deficit in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, EFR vol. 57 No 4, December 2019

[7] https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/359274-nigeria-needs-700000-homes-yearly-but-govt-plans-to-build-only-2383.html

[8] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/07/09/providing-low-income-egyptians-with-affordable-and-convenient-housing#

[9] https://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/tracking-africa%E2%80%99s-progress-in-figures/human-development