Baku – Eswatini made its voice heard at the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan this week, with the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Simon Zwane, presenting the Kingdom’s position at a Special Session of the Africa Affordable Housing Compact.
Dr Zwane told the gathering that Africa urgently needs sustainable, inclusive and market-driven housing solutions, and outlined what Eswatini is doing to deliver affordable housing to its people. At the centre of the Kingdom’s approach are stronger land governance through the Tinkhundla system, innovative financing mechanisms, housing microfinance and strategic partnerships between government and the private sector.
The presentation also gave the world a look at Eswatini’s broader housing ambitions, as outlined in the Ministry’s 2025 to 2030 Strategic Plan, which seeks to align affordable housing delivery with environmental sustainability, economic inclusion and resilient urban development. 
Eswatini used the platform to call on global partners and development finance institutions to back blended finance models, green housing initiatives, the digitisation of land records and community-level tenure regularisation as tools to speed up affordable housing delivery across the African continent.
