The government has selected Quarm-LMI as the preferred developer to revive and complete the long-delayed Saglemi Housing Project. This decision, confirmed in a press release by the Ministry of Works and Housing, follows extensive negotiations led by a government team.
The team included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, and Deloitte, with technical support from the Ghana Institute of Surveyors. The redevelopment plan will be executed through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), with the government’s investment treated as equity. This arrangement will allow both the government and the developer to recover their investments upon the project’s completion.
The statement emphasized, “As part of the redevelopment, the government and the developer will both recover their investments when the project is completed.”
Initially, the Saglemi Housing Project aimed to deliver 5,000 affordable housing units and received approximately $200 million in government funding. However, by the time construction was halted, only 1,506 units were partially completed, with the site lacking critical infrastructure such as water, electricity, and sanitation. These deficiencies rendered the development uninhabitable.
A valuation by the Ghana Institute of Surveyors later revealed that an additional $100 million would be needed to complete the unfinished 1,506 units—funds that the government could not provide.
Reviving the Saglemi Housing Project is expected to have a significant impact on Ghana’s housing market, contributing to reducing the country’s housing deficit, which currently stands at 1.8 million units.
However, the decision to involve private entities in the completion of the project has not been without controversy. Former President John Mahama criticized the government’s decision to transfer the project to private developers without consulting the original landowners. He argued that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration abandoned the project after assuming office and that it was essential to include the landowners in any new decision-making processes.
