Turkish firm to build 5,000 new apartments in Mozambican capital

Mayor of Mozambican capital city Maputo said on Tuesday the city plans to build 5,000 new apartments aiming to tackle the housing problem in the city.

The project, to be undertaken by a Turkish construction firm, is expected to be concluded in 5 years, according to David Simango, the city mayor.

"The target is to build 5,000 houses but in between, there is an intermediate target which is to build 2,500 apartments. When we reach that number, this means the project is viable," said the mayor.

However, the challenge the authorities are facing is to make the apartments affordable, particularly for individuals from middle class, which means the apartments should not cost more than 100,000 U.S. dollars.

"The houses are for Maputo city dwellers from private and public sectors as long as they submit their applications and meet the conditions and requirements. What we have agreed is that houses should be affordable to people of middle and high classes," said the mayor.

Housing is one of the major challenges the Mozambicans has been struggling with, particularly for the young generation who find it hard to own houses due to high prices of construction materials.

This is the second major housing project in Maputo city after a Chinese construction group, the Henan Gouji Industry and Development had built 5,000 houses in 2011, from an original plan to build 10,000 apartments, with 5,000 of them built in other provinces of the country. Endit