Next Media, under its flagship brand NBS, has launched the 4th Edition of the NBS Housing Baraza under the theme Building A Strong Housing Ecosystem. The 4th edition is set to unpack, among others, how Uganda can attain integrated communities built to last, encourage partnerships across the housing ecosystem, and how to make housing ecosystem data more available to and actionable for actors.
NBS Housing Baraza is an annual town hall-style event aimed at addressing pertinent issues, identifying innovation and business development opportunities, providing networking opportunities, and exploring related topics affecting Uganda’s housing market today from a consumer’s perspective.
The overarching question the 4th and subsequent editions of the Housing Baraza are aiming to answer is: What can we do radically and differently today to house 1 million Ugandans a year in decent modern affordable housing by 2030?
What Next Media representatives said:
“The recent pandemic showed us the importance of owning or living in decent housing in organised communities. However, many challenges remain that make it hard to provide and own housing on a large scale. We are pleased to be anchoring the conversation in National Planning Authority’s (NPA) Policy Paper on Addressing Uganda’s Affordable Decent Housing Deficit as approved by the 27th Presidential Economic Council (PEC). – Arthur Mukembo – Executive Producer, NBS Housing Baraza.
The 4th Edition builds on the inaugural NBS Housing Baraza held in July 2019 under the theme Housing for Wealth Generation, exploring how households could improve their wealth through Uganda’s Real Estate sector. This was followed by the 2nd Edition held September 17 – 18, 2020, under the theme Rethinking The Design of Affordable Housing, more so in the context of how innovative design, efficient construction techniques, and alternative financing solutions could help fast track access to affordable housing and 3rd Edition, a 2-day hybrid experience that took place October 14 – 15, 2021 live on NBS TV under the theme Celebrating Housing Champions – recognising ingenuity in the quest to provide and obtain decent housing.
The 4th Edition has been made possible by various partners, including Housing Finance Bank, National Planning Authority, Innovation Village, NSSF, Uganda Revenue Authority, and Plascon. Here’s what the different partners had to say during the launch.
What NBS Housing Baraza partners said;
Mugume Janet – Senior Sales Officer, NSSF.
What we hope to get out of #NBSHousingBaraza is an in-depth dialogue with all the key stakeholders to understand your processes and pinpoints, given a good customer experience in real estate. We shall also unpack all our products across the income spectrum. You all might know about our Solana Project in Lubowa, but we have a lot more in the pipeline”.
Ibrahim Bbossa – Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs, URA
“On behalf of Uganda Revenue Authority, we recognise and appreciate that it takes stakeholders, partners, and Ugandans to put their hands together to make meaningful conversations on the nationwide delivery of services to the ordinary Ugandans”.
Sharon Kakai – Marketing and Communications Lead, The Innovation Village.
“We shall be running a challenge (Zimba Challenge) that should be able to inspire and encourage different innovations to participate and bring on board what their thinking is about.
Jackson Emanzi – Manager Home Loans, Housing Finance Bank Uganda.
“It has been four wonderful years so far, and to us, we see this as a baby step in the right direction. All I can say is we look forward to fruitful engagements.”
Dr. Patrick Olowo – Senior Macroeconomist, National Planning Authority.
We come from a background where we know we have a deficit in affordable and decent housing. As a think tank, we have developed a paper on building enough housing units.
Next Communication Limited