Ghanaian Woman Builds Affordable Homes in Ghana Using Raffia Palm

• A Ghanaian woman called Ophelia Akuwumi is helping to solve Ghana's housing crisis by building affordable homes using raffia palm
• Ophelia has lived abroad for many years but decided to come to Ghana and build sustainable homes using non-conventional building materials
• In an interview with Build with Amoaa, she walks viewers through a two-bedroom house that she built using raffia palm as building materials

Ghanaian veteran designer Ophelia Akuwumi has shown the world that anything is possible. Her solution to Ghana's 2 million housing deficit is to create affordable homes using raffia palm. The raffia palm is a tropical tree in sub-Sahara Africa but very prominently in Madagascar.

Ophelia narrates in an interview with Build with Amoaa that she was inspired to start building houses with raffia palm when she went on a trip to the Western Region of Ghana with her grandchildren and noticed a beautiful hotel made entirely out of raffia palm.

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She started executing the building project during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. In the interview, Ophelia and the host tour the two-bedroom raffia palm property and shows the interior like the bedrooms, kitchen and furniture. Watch the video below.

Ophelia's standard two-bedroom raffia palm home costs about $50,000, about 30% less than a building with conventional blocks and bricks.

Ophelia added that the price for a raffia palm home also depends on factors like location, the price charge of architects (if need be) and others.

Ophelia asserts that the raffia palm used in building the houses undergoes chemical treatment to make it fire-resistant and prevent termite destruction.

Ghanaian Man Builds Transportable Homes in Ghana for People to Relocate with Their Houses

In an earlier article, YEN.com.gh wrote about how a Ghanaian man is building transportable homes in Ghana that can be moved from one place to another.

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In an interview, the man called Brown explained that the goal is to provide young working professionals with the freedom to live and work in locations other than their home areas.

He claims to have additional amazing ideas for constructing mobile homes that can be moved about easily.

Source: YEN.com.gh