Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 174 posts

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

#111

Post by baybal2 »

herodoturtle wrote: post #33

> What is going on? Start with the lack of finance. Many Senegalese developers struggle to obtain loans without hefty collateral. Instead, some start building, hoping to tempt buyers to put down deposits on flats and then use that to help finance the rest of the building. But buyers are wary of making a commitment based on a construction site. These unfinished projects often tie up prime land, too. > For Senegalese h…

That's vastly inaccurate.

Unless they talk about some really poor Central African countries, it's not a problem in more well off parts of coastal Africa.

A Kenyan, or Nigerian family of economically active class can buy their first property in cash.

The talk here is a about the part of populace who is just above living in slums, and informal housing. A very different matter without a doubt.

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

#112

Post by baybal2 »

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.

Not a good idea. Paint on the rebar will severely weaken the concrete adhesion in just a few years.

Construction codes in a number of countries prohibit that.

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

#113

Post by Accujack »

oblio wrote: post #91
phire wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it was common when I visited Peru 20 years ago. The tax code wasn't only reason for unfinished buildings. In poorer communities, which couldn't get access to loans, it was common to just buy supplies and do construction bit by bit as funds and time were available. Homes might start off with as little as bamboo poles in corners and PVC sheets tied between them. I swear I saw some that didn't even have roofs. Whe…

This is common across the developing world. Not a lot of people out of our close to 8 billion can afford such a huge expense in one go.

Even in the US this is the case.

Government regulation has outlawed people building incrementally in most cases, so people who can't afford to buy a house generally have to rent forever.

Building a house is usually more expensive than buying a similar house, due to building codes, permitting costs, and costs of utility build-out.

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

#114

Post by mikro2nd »

globular-toast wrote: post #92
gpvos wrote: post #2

A few years ago I read an article that argued that one of the best ways to help many African countries would be to send accountants and help set up a cadastre.

Like they have in South Africa? That's going well...

Not sure what you're referring to, since South Africa has had a well-ordered and fully functional cadastre for well over a century (to my knowledge, probably quite a lot longer).

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

#115

Post by Accujack »

baybal2 wrote: post #107

> 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 a…

>Africa needs more factories, more mills, more kilns, more technical know how.

Also less exploitation by industrialized nations and more leaders who want to improve their country's infrastructure rather than just get into a position of power so they can be a rich king.

Western nations will invest in Africa if it gets them something... minerals, oil, other resources. They don't invest in Africa's people, they invest in the infrastructure they need to exploit those resources. Most of the money leaves the country, the part that stays usually gets greatly reduced by ending up in the pockets of political leaders because that's the way it's always been done.

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

#116

Post by rvieira »

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…

Don't know if it's true, but I was told the same when in Egypt.

But this one is defnitely true and the reason why you see so many bricked windows in London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax

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

#117

Post by mncharity »

rrrazdan wrote: post #19
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…

In India lots of buildings leave rebar open on the top floor/roof because they expect the government to allow them to add a floor in the future. The government often obliges.

Youtube has real estate virtual tour walk-throughs from around the world. Sorry, I don't know how to search for them. A few days ago, I saw this one[1] from Bangladesh.

A concrete slab multi-story. IIRC, first floor was occupied residential - here are some hesitant people, their stuff, a shrine room. Second floor was bare slab with construction detritus. No walls, interior or exterior - "can customize". Third floor was also bare, no walls, no roof, forest of rebar. Very roughly, IIRC.

Meta: Wished I could copy a list of yt links from browser history, and get a page of thumbnails for a fast visual search. A little script later, found it.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R6Fagr8yBM .

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

#118

Post by FridayoLeary »

periheli0n wrote: post #32
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…

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.

sea spray? Britain isn't a narrow coastal strip.

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

#119

Post by blaser-waffle »

kqr wrote: post #27
gpvos wrote: post #2

A few years ago I read an article that argued that one of the best ways to help many African countries would be to send accountants and help set up a cadastre.

This article, coupled with the ideas in Lombard Street, makes it sound like the lack of deposit banking is another big problem. Unfortunately, if it's cultural (you owe your relatives any spare liquid capital you have) then I don't know how to fix it.

Much of Africa's banking infrastructure is handled by cell phones.
Post reply on HN