Ghana has called for increased international financing for housing and urban development, saying rapid urbanization is straining infrastructure and leaving the country with a housing deficit exceeding 1.8 million units despite improvements in poverty reduction and access to essential services.
Speaking at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda, Deputy Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Rita Naa Odoley Sowah said Ghana would prioritize affordable housing, urban infrastructure and climate-resilient cities as it seeks to accelerate implementation of the global urban development framework toward 2036.
“Housing remains our most pressing challenge,” Sowah said. “Ghana faces a housing deficit of more than 1.8 million units, while up to 37% of urban population lives in informal settlements.”
Ghana continues to face structural development challenges as urban population growth continues to outpace investment in housing, sanitation and municipal infrastructure, creating opportunities for increased public-private partnerships and international development financing.
Sowah said Ghana would focus on four priority areas, expanding affordable and inclusive housing, strengthening integrated urban planning, increasing investment in urban infrastructure and local economic development, and improving climate resilience through stronger governance and data systems.
The government plans to implement recommendations from the 2024 Housing Profile and roll out the National Slum Upgrading and Prevention Strategy, alongside a new National Urban Policy covering 2026 to 2035.
To support urban development, Ghana is also expanding initiatives including the Ghana Secondary Cities Programme, the GARID Project, the Smart SDGs Programme and the Sustainable Cities Programme, while establishing a Ghana Urban Observatory to strengthen urban data collection and policy planning.
Sowah said the government would also strengthen local government fiscal capacity, expand sustainable urban financing mechanisms, integrate climate resilience into infrastructure planning and improve digital governance.
Despite the housing shortfall, she highlighted progress in social and economic development over the past decade.
According to the minister, multidimensional poverty declined to 21.9% in 2025 from 24.9% a year earlier, while access to basic services remained relatively high, with 96.9% of the population having access to water, 94.8% to electricity and 63.4% to sanitation.
She attributed those gains to social intervention programmes including the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the School Feeding Programme, alongside reforms such as the Land Act and the Affirmative Action Act.
The deputy minister also said Ghana had strengthened urban governance through decentralization, digital systems, skills development and increased private sector participation.
However, she warned that domestic efforts alone would be insufficient to address the country’s urban development needs and urged the international community to expand financial and technical support.
“We call for increased and predictable financing for housing and urban development, direct access to climate finance for cities and expanded technical and multilateral collaboration,” She said.
