The Housing Minister, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has praised First National Bank Ghana for its initiatives to boost home ownership in Ghana.

Mr Asenso-Boakye was speaking at the maiden edition of the Home Ownership Series, an initiative by First National Bank Ghana, in partnership with Glitz Africa Magazine, aimed at promoting a continuing national dialogue on the best ways to tackle the housing deficit in the country.

The Minister said that the series creates an opportunity for players in the real estate industry to meet and discuss issues affecting the housing sector, especially issues pertaining to affordable housing.

“At the ministry of works and housing, we welcome initiatives of this kind,” Hon. Asenso-Boakye said.

Such initiatives, the minister pointed out, “serve as a way of learning and exchanging ideas in our collective quest to move the sector forward.”

The Home Ownership Series follows the declaration of 2021 by First National Bank as the Year of Home Ownership – #YOHO2021, a campaign aiming to encourage and support Ghanaians to acquire residential property, thereby shifting the national culture of renting towards home ownership.

The ‘Year of Home Ownership’ initiative primarily aims to bridge the housing deficit in Ghana, by helping Ghanaians to own homes by gradually removing the challenges that confront Ghanaians in their quest to purchase residential property.

The Minister pointed that the initiative to promote home ownership over renting will substantially contribute to the improvement of the living standards of Ghanaians.

“The key determinants of quality of life within societies of every country depends largely on a sound and efficient market that provides decent homes for its people,” Mr. Asenso-Boakye said.

He acknowledged, however, that there are challenges that need to be addressed; challenges, which he said, his ministry is ready to collaborate with relevant stakeholders like First National Bank Ghana, to resolve.

“I would like to thank First National Bank for staying committed to this noble cause of helping to provide homes for our people,” the minister.

The Executive Head of Home Loans at First National Bank, Kojo Addo-Kufuor, pledged the bank’s commitment to convert as many Ghanaians as possible from renters to homeowners.

“The objective is to drive home ownership very aggressively in the year. We decided that everybody who is looking to buy or can buy, must buy. We’ll make it possible for them to do so,” he said.

“We’ve looked at our processes, we’ve looked at why people start transactions and don’t conclude, we’ve looked at the reason why people can’t afford to buy and we’ve tried to fix all of these in #YOHO2021,” Mr Addo-Kufuor added.

He further encouraged the Minister for Works and Housing to continue nurturing his ministry’s partnership with First National Bank to keep the discussions alive on delivering progress in the housing sector for Ghanaians.