The country has around 34 million inhabitants, of which 34% live in urban areas and 65% are young people with legitimate aspirations for their first home. This position was expressed on Friday, May 23, in the city of Maputo, during a workshop promoted by the Housing Development Fund (FFH), on the theme of "Affordable Housing for All".

According to the government official, the main challenge to secure access to housing is not just the scarcity of properties, but above all the high cost and difficulty of obtaining infrastructure land, which is still limited and expensive.

"The dream of the Mozambican government remains unchanged. We want to guarantee a safe, dignified and resilient home for every family. We believe that decent housing provides the ideal conditions for citizens to plan their future. This becomes even more productive when we are talking about a young person with the key to their own home," he said.

The minister also acknowledged that Mozambique faces a critical housing deficit of over 2.7 million housing units. He added that constructions using unconventional materials continue to predominate and are often seen as natural by the population. Despite the government's efforts in terms of housing policies, access to credit remains limited.

"Our policies are bold, but still insufficient. Less than 51% of young people have access to formal housing loans, in a context where 801% of the urban population lives in informal neighborhoods," he said. "These statistics are more than numbers: they are faces, expectations and hopes, whose eyes are fixed on the government's actions to achieve this goal. On the other hand, they also represent the basis of a transformative opportunity, because by knowing the specific needs of citizens, it is possible to design effective public policies with positive results," he added.

With regard to the workshop, Fernando Rafael considered it to be a platform where the public and private sectors, academia, civil society and international partners come together to discuss and find viable and transformative solutions to one of today's biggest urban challenges.

"The future begins with decisions like this, when different sectors come together to think of concrete solutions for one of the most fundamental rights: the right to decent housing," he concluded.