FLASHBACK: Isaac Ntiamoah (left), Marketing Manager, Lakeside Estate, explaining a point to Ato Afful (right), Managing Director, GCGL, and Samuel Amegayibor (right), Executive Secretary, Ghana Real Estate Developers Association, during the Graphic-GREDA Housing Fair. Picture: ELVIS NII NOI DOWUONA

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GCGL Housing Fair August 28-30 - To tackle eco-friendly housing

Emmanuel Kwame Asante Aug - 22 - 2025 , 09:57 4 minutes read

This year’s Housing Fair by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) will seek to address issues around Ghana’s housing deficit and promote technology-enabled, eco-friendly homes.

The Housing Fair, scheduled for August 28 to 30 at the Accra Mall food court, will bring together developers, banks, input suppliers and investors.

Officials of the GCGL said the event would bring together key stakeholders to explore solutions for the estimated 1.8 million housing gap in the country.

The Director, Marketing and Sales, of GCGL, Franklin Sowa, said the fair formed part of the company’s broader goal to be part of solutions to national problems beyond publishing news.

“We are a news house, we publish news. And beyond creating news, publishing news, we also want to be part of solutions to problems,” he said.

Mr Sowa explained that rising rural-urban migration into cities such as Accra, Takoradi and Kumasi had increased the demand for housing.

He added that Ghana was also experiencing an influx of foreigners coming for business and investment, making real estate a growing market.

Being organised on the theme: “Technology-Enabled and Eco-Friendly Housing: Now and the Future”, this year’s edition will focus on integrating smart technology into homes and promoting sustainable building practices.

Mr Sowa said while smart homes were common in other parts of the world, they were still new to many Ghanaians.

“So, we are setting the tone for this year as technology-enabled and eco-friendly.

We want to deal with technology integration into homes to make homes in Ghana the same as homes everywhere else, because now it’s a global conversation,” he said.

He explained that the fair would open up the sector to players, potential homeowners, renters and investors, including those seeking to set up facilities such as Airbnb properties.

“This is like a one-stop shop venue. All the relevant people will be there,” he said.

Dialogue, policy engagement

The event will begin with a dialogue session at the Accra Mall, where institutions such as the Lands Commission, State Housing Company and the Ministry of Works, Housing and Water Resources will address participants.

Policy frameworks, land acquisition issues and affordable housing initiatives will be discussed.

Mr Sowa said the presence of those institutions would provide practical insights for participants interested in real estate.

“The minister and the ministry will be there to talk about the policy issues, policy reforms, policy frameworks, things that you must know if you want to play in the space and opportunities that they have,” he said.

He further explained that funding, input material supply and quality remained key challenges in the sector, and that the fair would provide an opportunity to explore solutions.

Exhibitors, partners

Vendors expected to attend the event include Lakeside Estate, Star Properties, Access Bank, African Concrete Products, Regimanuel Gray Limited, Prabon Greenfield, State Housing Company, Molders, Salem Investment Limited, Assured Developers, JL Properties, Affordable Luxury Homes and Rocksters Roofing Systems.

MTN and Samsung are headline sponsors of the event.

While MTN showcases smart home security and connectivity solutions, Samsung presents its technology propositions.

Mr Sowa said participants should expect a marketplace that provided end-to-end real estate services.

“Expect a solution-based one market on a sector that can shape your life, can inform you on your decisions into the future, as far as your real estate and then smart home interests are concerned,” he said.