The government of Tanzania will inject USD 48.24 million to fund the first phase of a construction project that will result in the production of 50,000 new Tanzania housing units for public servant over the next five years.
The government will work in partnership with the Watumishi Housing Company (WHC), a real estate developer and fund management firm that oversees investment in real estate through the management of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), to complete the project that spans across more than 200 acres in 12 regions, with the first phase scheduled to begin in October.
“This is historic and the largest ever real estate project to be implemented in East and Central Africa, if not the entire African continent,” said Fred Msemwa, the CEO of the WHC, in an interview with The Daily News Tanzania.
The successful completion of the project will ease the existing housing backlog, which currently stands at nearly 3 million housing units and is growing at the annual rate of 200,000 units.
The first phase of the housing project will involve the construction of 1,500 housing units in Dar es Salaam, the Coast Region, Dodoma, Morogoro, Ruvuma, Mtwara, Mbeya, Kigoma, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Arusha and Tanga.
Upon completion, the housing units that will be sold to public servants will not require a deposit from the client and will be available with reduced rate mortgages and a 25 year repayment plan.