Speaking on behalf of President Yoweri Museveni during the 20th anniversary celebrations of Akright City, Nabakooba said the government is increasingly looking at community-led housing models to enable lower-income households to access decent homes while supporting economic growth.
“If low-income earners can organise themselves into SACCOs and Housing Cooperatives, it is another area where the government can invest to grow our economy and address the housing deficit, which stands at approximately 2.4 million housing units,” Nabakooba said.
Her remarks come as Uganda continues to grapple with rising urbanisation, rapid population growth and increasing demand for affordable housing, particularly in major towns and cities where property prices have continued to outpace household incomes.
The minister argued that expanding access to affordable housing should not be viewed solely as a social intervention but also as an economic strategy capable of stimulating manufacturing, construction and employment.
“Housing has multisectoral forward and backward linkages that should help us in the fight against urban poverty and in increasing the capacity of our construction industries,” she said.
Nabakooba noted that Uganda’s growing industrial base is already creating opportunities to lower construction costs by producing more building materials locally. She cited increased domestic production of steel, ceramics, plastics and tiles, saying the country is gradually reducing dependence on imported construction materials.
“You may recall that ceramics were once a key component of imported building materials, but that is no longer the case,” she said, pointing to local manufacturing as an opportunity to make housing development more sustainable and cost-effective.
The minister also challenged private developers to respond to the country’s expanding middle-income population by increasing investment in planned residential communities that provide quality housing while creating jobs across the construction value chain.
“As the economy continues to grow by leaps and bounds, I urge all players in the real estate sector to tap into the new middle-income cohort to develop more affluent neighbourhoods, thereby changing the skylines of our cities,” Nabakooba said.
Beyond financing, Nabakooba stressed that long-term housing affordability will also depend on protecting family property from excessive subdivision through inheritance, warning that fragmented land ownership undermines sustainable urban planning.
“You can imagine if Akright City were to be divided into smaller plots over the next 20 years in the name of inheritance. What would it look like?” she asked, urging families to adopt family companies to preserve property value across generations.
She further called for housing developments that are resilient to climate change, saying future urban communities must be designed to withstand floods, droughts and other environmental pressures while remaining inclusive and economically productive.
“Let us work together to nurture and grow our housing sector by making it inclusive, sustainable and prosperous for all. We must unlock its full potential by constructing houses that breathe life, foster progress and elevate our people out of poverty into a brighter future,” Nabakooba said.
The minister said government, developers, financial institutions and communities must work together to expand access to affordable housing, arguing that decent shelter is both a basic human need and a catalyst for Uganda’s long-term economic transformation.