Third edition of the NBS TV's Housing Baraza launched

NBS Television and Housing Finance Bank, in partnership with Habitat For Humanity, have launched the 3rd Edition of the NBS Housing Baraza Townhall Meeting Series on Uganda’s housing agenda at the Next Conference Centre and live on NBS Television under the theme “Celebrating Housing Champions”.

The NBS Housing Baraza is an annual town hall-style public conversation aimed at addressing pertinent issues, identifying innovation and business development opportunities, providing networking opportunities, and exploring related topics affecting Uganda’s housing sector.

The NBS Housing Baraza brings together prospective homeowners, home builders, government, legislators, and industry professionals, and others to discuss and share the latest thinking and solutions to the housing problem in Uganda.

The 3rd Edition conversation will look to recognize ingenuity in the quest to provide and obtain decent housing, despite the effects of the novel pandemic. The conversation will revolve around:

• Developing homes - Perspectives from small, mid-size, and large formal and informal homebuilders on how they developed affordable housing despite the pandemic.

• Building home - showcases how informal and formal sector salaried and self-employed homeowners creatively built their homes, overcoming supply chain disruptions and other disruptions arising out of the pandemic.

• Financing home - stories of how prospective homeowners from the bottom of the income pyramid through to the middle-income category overcame uncertainty, income shocks, and other headwinds to finance the construction and purchase of their homes, and how homebuilders innovated to meet the changes in demand.

The Third NBS Housing Baraza will take place across four conversation platforms:

1. World Habitat Day Celebrations happening October 4, a special observance of the worldwide celebrations of the World Habitat Day under this year’s theme of Accelerating urban action for a carbon-free world.

2. Townhall Meeting – also the main event, happening October 14 – 15 live on NBS TV.

3. The Bazaar – a special marketplace experience happening November 15 – 29 offering exclusive deals on housing, housing finance, and related products and services through a pop-up segment on NBS Television.

4. Baraza Works – a series of knowledge-sharing webinars, fireside chats, mini Barazas, and others delving deeper into the high-level concepts shared during the Townhall Meeting, starting this October and running through to the 4th Edition.

The Third Edition builds on the inaugural NBS Housing Baraza held in July 2019 under the theme Housing for Wealth Generation that explored how households could improve their wealth through Uganda’s Real Estate sector. This was followed by the 2nd Edition held September 17 – 18, 2020 under the theme Rethinking The Design of Affordable Housing, more so in the context of how innovative design, efficient construction techniques, and alternative financing solutions could help fast track access to affordable housing.

Joseph Kigozi, Chief Strategy Officer at Next Media Services remarked that “Uganda has had several people and entities who have for long done tremendous work in improving our real estate business – one that is a long-term project for all involved, one that is ever-increasing in value”.

Patrick Harry Oyuru, Head of Marketing & Communications at Housing Finance Bank added that “ I am already excited. I look forward to the exciting conversations we are going to have.”

Robert Otim, National Director, Habitat For Humanity further noted that “in Uganda, we are not tapping into the potential of the housing sector,” before thanking Next Media Services, for the Housing Baraza platform.

“Our sincere appreciation to Next Media Services for championing this cause. Thank you for bringing together stakeholders to have these discussions,” Otim said.

Arthur Mukembo, Executive Producer of the NBS Housing Baraza ended by inviting the public to join the conversation by channeling questions, comments and most importantly, stories of how they managed to supply or acquire housing during the pandemic through #NBSHousingBaraza on Twitter and Facebook.