Namibia's president pays N$400,000 for two prefabricated homes to test alternative building method
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President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah personally funded two homes built with prefabricated panels and handed them over in Windhoek, framing the N$400,000 outlay as a test of whether the technology can be scaled against a 500,000-unit housing deficit.
Namibia's President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah handed over two newly built houses on Friday, 16 October, to Menesia Ngunovandu in 8ste Laan, Otjomuise, and Johana Kambwela in the Kilimanjaro settlement in Katutura. According to the Namibian Presidency, the combined N$400,000 cost was paid by the president personally.
The homes were built by Namibian-owned Yambuka Housing using its prefabricated SI-Panel technology. The Presidency presented the initiative as an opportunity to assess an alternative building method while providing permanent shelter to two households, putting the indicative cost at about N$200,000 a house.
For Kambwela, the handover meant moving out of a shack into a home of her own, while Ngunovandu described receiving the house as the fulfilment of a long-held hope for decent accommodation and a safer environment for her family, according to the Presidency's account.
Speaking at the handover, Nandi-Ndaitwah said her involvement went beyond financing the two properties. She wanted to test the feasibility of Yambuka Housing's construction approach and show how different building technologies could contribute to affordable housing delivery. She commended the company's founder and director, Twapewa Kadhikwa, and urged government institutions, private businesses, financial institutions and regulators to work together to expand access to housing.
The Presidency cited an estimated national housing deficit of 500,000 units. Against that shortage, the president called for practical solutions that could be delivered at greater scale, alongside the removal of unnecessary obstacles to construction, and said adequate shelter should provide security and uphold the dignity of those living in it.
Key details that would determine whether the model can be replicated were not disclosed. The Presidency's statement did not specify the floor areas of the homes, whether the N$200,000 figure included land, municipal services and site preparation, or how the cost compares with equivalent conventionally built houses. It also gave no construction timelines and announced no larger procurement programme or financing arrangement, leaving the immediate outcome at two completed homes.