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Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

economist.com

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Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#101

Post by trymas »

ralfn wrote: post #83
trymas wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But how people can live in such buildings then? I understand about poorer countries with lack of regulations, but have not thought that's possible in Europe. Government should not allow anyone to live or operate in such buildings if they're not up to code and are not finished. How people can get mortgages for such things, or how business can register their offices if building is permanently "under construction"?

I've only been a tourist in Greece, so definitely not an expert, but.... Take your house. Now add some scaffolding for a new floor on top of it. Does it alter the ability or even quality of living in it? It might also help hide the pool, which is also taxed. "Up to code" isn't the same as a safe house. That's just such an american way of looking at issues. All that does is make the legal liability clear. It doesn't m…

> That's just such an american way of looking at issues.

You could not be any more wrong and your rant at then end was irrelevant on what I've asked.

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#102

Post by meowster »

periheli0n wrote: post #96
londons_explore wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One could always paint the exposed rebar to protect it.

The point of sealant is that it won’t come off easily. But rebar with painted-on sealant is most likely less able to properly attach to concrete. Therefore, it might be difficult to use properly sealed rebar for further construction?

Grind it off or use some kind of paint remover.

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#103

Post by londons_explore »

periheli0n wrote: post #96
londons_explore wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One could always paint the exposed rebar to protect it.

The point of sealant is that it won’t come off easily. But rebar with painted-on sealant is most likely less able to properly attach to concrete. Therefore, it might be difficult to use properly sealed rebar for further construction?

Worst case I guess you could use paint stripper on it before use?

But I expect rebar-sealer exists for exactly this use...

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#105

Post by mountainriver »

rudyfink wrote: post #6

I have no idea if it is true, but, in Egypt, my guide (who I will say was wonderfully knowledgeable on historic matters), stated that the reason many properties had rebar extending upwards (e.g., it looked like there were more stories to be added) was related to tax policy. I forget the full detail of her explanation, but there was some different kind of tax treatment if the building was "finished," so there were a n…

Same in Peru, really unfortunate outcome

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#106

Post by bernardv »

rudyfink wrote: post #6

I have no idea if it is true, but, in Egypt, my guide (who I will say was wonderfully knowledgeable on historic matters), stated that the reason many properties had rebar extending upwards (e.g., it looked like there were more stories to be added) was related to tax policy. I forget the full detail of her explanation, but there was some different kind of tax treatment if the building was "finished," so there were a n…

Same in parts of Italy - its a very common tax dodge

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#107

Post by baybal2 »

> The lack of liquidity in the financial system then further limits what banks can lend to builders.

The massive credit expansion is exactly what you don't want if you want to ease the housing market.

The Economist got almost everything in this story wrong.

I have personal experience of being to Nigeria a few times on infrastructure subcontract projects.

The predominant portion of those abandoned construction sites are made by plain fraudsters, take money, make a semblance of construction going, then vanish with money.

Urban apartment housing in most of Africa is seen as something for a more affluent, and well off, much alike how it is in Asia, and not the other way around as it is in the West.

There are quite proficient builders in economically relatively well doing African countries. Take a look on http://www.mhfproperties.com/

Where fraud proliferates are 2nd tier African economies, and housing for people lower on the class ladder (ones who are just entering the middle class, and still want save hard on housing.)

The shortages of cement, steel, and construction supplies bear much more on the availability of housing than any of that "liquidity" thing.

Africa needs more factories, more mills, more kilns, more technical know how. At the moment even such basic things like petrol, and cement are largely import only even in most developed African economies.

This leads to those countries squandering their short FX resources gained largely from agricultural exports, which could've been spent in import of something more useful, and productive, like plant machinery.

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#108

Post by periheli0n »

londons_explore wrote: post #103
periheli0n wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of sealant is that it won’t come off easily. But rebar with painted-on sealant is most likely less able to properly attach to concrete. Therefore, it might be difficult to use properly sealed rebar for further construction?

Worst case I guess you could use paint stripper on it before use? But I expect rebar-sealer exists for exactly this use...

Rebar sealant would only help if the entire rebar is sealed, not just the exposed bit, since moisture will creep in where the rebar exits the concrete. And even then, moisture inside the concrete wall may well cause other problems in the long term.

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#109

Post by throwaway0a5e »

trymas wrote: post #56
daniel_iversen wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same in Greece (tax rules) apparently, and there you’ll also see lots and lots of unfinished buildings.

But how people can live in such buildings then? I understand about poorer countries with lack of regulations, but have not thought that's possible in Europe. Government should not allow anyone to live or operate in such buildings if they're not up to code and are not finished. How people can get mortgages for such things, or how business can register their offices if building is permanently "under construction"?

If the regulatory compliance situation is such that people aren't finishing structures in order to game it I would be very, very surprised if adding more government to prevent people from using technically unfinished structures fixes it.

Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

#110

Post by Accujack »

londons_explore wrote: post #73
periheli0n wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would never be possible in the UK. Rainwater and sea spray would corrode any exposed rebar away within a few years. In fact, I wonder whether it is such a good idea to build on rebar that has been exposed to the environment for an extended period of time.

One could always paint the exposed rebar to protect it.

Or just use non metallic rebar (basalt)
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