The Job-Creating Machine Called The Real Estate Industry In Ghana

I have justreturned to Ghana, after 25 years sojourn in the United States, and what
I seemakes me extremely happy for our beloved country! Despite all the buzz aboutoil
in our country lately, I am rather going to focus this article on the oneindustry
that is quietly creating a lot of economic expansion in Ghana and,therefore, lots of
jobs around here – the real estate industry! I intend to simplifythis article as
much as possible and state the facts in real terms for readersto relate to.


You justhave to drive the Accra-Tema Motorway and look on the East side of the road
toget a glimpse of what is truly going on in the real estate industry here inGhana.
Houses upon houses fill up all that empty space that used to be on thatside of the
Motorway, some completed and others at various stages ofconstruction. There is
development going on all over the place and buildingconstruction is scattered all
over the city of Accra. The Accra we know todayis not your grandfather’s Accra
when you were a kid growing up. Not a chance! Youcan feel the vibrant atmosphere and
the brisk economic activity in this countrywhen you drive around and see what’s
going on here. It tells you that all thebillions and billions of dollars and euros
pouring into this country fromremittances coming from Ghanaians in the Diaspora is
truly putting people towork here. Since most of these billions go into buying or
building of houses,it is time we took stock of the multiplier economic effect the
housing industryis creating in our country. Then the politicians might take note and
pay betterattention to the goose that is truly laying the golden eggs for job
creation inGhana.


Folks, buildone house and you have created employment for so many people, enabling
money toflow through so many hands. You buy the land and the Chief gets paid. The
chiefeven pays off his “land guards” for protecting his land. Next, you go
throughthe process of getting your land registered. You are creating jobs for
civilservants at the Land Title office, the Lands Commission and the
SurveyDepartment. If you can’t make the rounds to these offices yourself, then
youhave to employ the services of people who know the nooks and crannies of thegame
to get your land registration process through. After registration of yourland
documents, you definitely will start talking to Architects and Engineerswho will be
drawing your building plans. This is just the basics, well beforeyou start buying
building materials and engaging the services of subcontractors,masons, carpenters,
roofers and construction folks. The whole process ofbuilding one house takes several
months and several workers, includingcontractors and their employees. By the time
the physical structure moves fromthe ground to the roof level, lots of jobs have
been created for severalpeople. Buying of building materials itself creates jobs for
so many people –from the cement factory, to the wood, roof, iron, steel, glass and
paintfactories. And this trickles down through the retail chain for all these
industries.Then you come to all the built-in gadgets that have to be installed to
make thehouse livable – from air-conditioning and refrigeration to kitchen,
bedroom andbathroom fixtures and fittings, to electrical wiring and lighting
fixtures,jobs are being created all around.


Drive aroundAccra and you see the ingenuity of Ghanaian entrepreneurs staring you in
theface. I have driven the streets of Beverly Hills and Bel Aire in Los Angelesbut
have never seen this beautiful variety of iron and steel gates in my life.The result
is that a whole new metal industry is being built around here.Again, when you see
all those huge black plastic drums (Polytank) along thestreets of Accra, that’s a
sign that a plastic industry is gradually gaining afoothold in Ghana, to overcome
the water distribution and conservation problemfacing our country.


It is afterthe building is completed that a whole new set of job creation starts
duringthe home buying and selling process. It is here that real estate agents
andloan officers get busy. Banks and their employees get busy making home
loans.Mortgage companies get busy. Title insurance and homeowners insurance
companiesget busy insuring homes. Here in Ghana, Lawyers also get busy drafting
purchaseagreements and negotiating real estate deals for their clients.
Can youimagine how many jobs get created after the building gets sold? This is
wherethe furniture and furnishing industry get busy supplying all the
draperies,living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom furniture. And the home
appliancesindustry gets busy too, supplying refrigerators, washers, dryers,
dishwashers,stoves, ovens, trash compactors and disposers, et cetera. Job creation
everystep of the way! We are told by the experts that the housing deficit in Ghanais
over one million houses. Can you imagine how many jobs would be created,building one
million homes in Ghana over the next several years?


If I werethe Atta Mills administration, I would take a whole new look at
thisjob-creating machine called real estate. I would engage the industry leaders
tofind out what their problems are and how best to solve them. I would invitethem to
the Castle and have a tete-a-tete with them. I would create a whole newdepartment
under the Ministry of Housing to pay better attention to thisindustry, get it very
well organized and help it grow. I would call it, simply,Department of Real Estate!
Let me quotefrom an article I wrote in May 2004 on this same subject of the
multipliereconomic effect of real estate development: “Indeed, the multiplier
effect of the real estate industryon any economy in the world cannot be lost on any
politician who takes thedevelopment of his country seriously. That is why in most
developing nations ofthe world today, there is a completely separate department set
up to deal withreal estate issues---- from land ownership to land subdivision, from
buildingcodes to zoning regulations and from the regulation of real estate agents
andescrow officers to the regulation of real estate developers, mortgage bankersand
title companies. It is obvious across the world that those countries orcommunities
that have taken real estate regulation seriously and have devisedlaws to control the
development of their cities are those that boast of themost beautiful cities around
the world today and those who have not definitelyshow the worst cities across the
globe.” (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=57109)


Indeed, city managers across the globe will tell you franklythat real estate is the
cash-cow that sustains their city budgets. Propertytaxes alone provide most of the
revenue for the services a lot of these citiesoffer. In the United States today,
most States are hemorrhaging from the fallin property values because that translates
into a fall in property tax revenues.Most State governments couldn’t wait for the
situation to turn around!


If thegovernment of Ghana could go all the way to Korea to bring a Korean company
tobuild houses in Ghana, our government could sit down with local developers
tofashion out a strategy to develop the real estate industry in our belovedcountry.
The folks at the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) willtell you point
blank that all they need is capital infusion. The previousgovernment was able to
source money into this country from the world capitalmarkets for other purposes.
This current government could do the same for thereal estate industry too.
Hope someonein government is listening!

Peter Atsu Tsikata
Real EstateConsultant
MillenniumProperties Ghana Ltd
# A35Trasacco Valley Area
East Legon,Accra
Direct:+233-(0)54-541-0350
Cell:+233-(0)26-655-7066
Tel:+233-(0)21-824-140
Email: ptsikata@gmail.com
Web site:www.millenniumtoday.com