Housing, through backward linkages, can encourage construction industries to form, including basic industries such as cement and steel. Strategies to expand housing and construction employment should focus on reforming regulatory barriers and supporting education and training, particularly for women and youth. Housing is 55 per cent more expensive in urban Africa than in other developing countries’ urban areas (Dasgupta, Lall and Lozano-Gracia, 2014). The typical house price to income ratio globally ranges between 3:1 and 5:1, but often in Africa, even for public service employees whose average income is higher than the majority’s, the ratio goes above 10:1, which is far above the 4:1 threshold that development practitioners suggest signals a serious problem with housing supply (Bertaud, 2015).