Managing Director of Republic Bank Ghana, Dr Benjamin Dzoboku, has identified affordability as the major challenge confronting Ghana’s housing sector, rather than the availability of housing units.

According to him, Ghana’s housing deficit, estimated at about 1.8 million units in 2015, has been further widened by rapid population growth and urbanisation.

Speaking at the launch of the Republic Bank JoyNews Habitat Fair on August 11, Dr Dzoboku said the challenge had been compounded by low household incomes, high borrowing costs and persistent land litigation, making it difficult for many Ghanaians to achieve their dream of owning a home.

“The challenge is not the supply side, but affordability,” he said.

He noted that closing the housing gap would require a concerted effort from all stakeholders, including government, financial institutions, developers and other players within the housing sector.

“Closing this gap will require a concerted effort, not only from one institution or two institutions, but all stakeholders,” he stressed.

Dr Dzoboku made the remarks while reaffirming Republic Bank Ghana’s commitment to supporting home ownership through its partnership with the Multimedia Group’s Habitat Fair.

He said the relationship between Republic Bank and the Multimedia Group dates back more than 15 years to the days of HFC, when the bank became a title sponsor of the Mortgage Habitat Fair.

He explained that the partnership had continued following the bank’s transformation and rebranding in 2015 and had now expanded from Accra and Kumasi into a nationwide initiative.

Dr Dzoboku said housing finance was not a peripheral activity for Republic Bank but remained central to the institution’s identity and history.

He traced the bank’s roots to 1990, when it began as a home finance company with a specific focus on mortgage financing.

Although the institution has since evolved from a mortgage company into a commercial bank and subsequently Republic Bank, he said its expertise and commitment to housing finance had remained intact.

Republic Bank, he noted, has developed a range of products designed to meet different housing needs, including home financing, home equity facilities, “Buy, Build and Own” financing, home completion and improvement loans, pension-backed mortgages and support under the National Housing Scheme.

He said the bank had helped thousands of Ghanaians, both in Ghana and abroad, to buy, build, improve and complete their homes.

Dr Dzoboku also highlighted the bank’s support for public sector workers, saying thousands of government employees had benefited from housing-related financing to achieve their home ownership ambitions.

He further pointed to Republic Bank’s Real Estate Investment Fund, established in 1995, as evidence of the bank’s long-standing involvement in the broader housing and investment ecosystem.

“Home ownership is an ecosystem where you can save, invest, build, buy and create security for your family,” he said.