In Budapest on Thursday, the Hungarian Grémound Ltd. and Botswanan Biomass Energy Ltd. have signed a EUR 20 million contract on delivering technology for the construction of affordable housing. This is actually the second contract of this kind for Grémound in this region.
After signing the contract CEO of the Hungarian company László Farkas said that by relying on local construction materials and workforce, the Hungarian technology allows social housing apartments to be built from a total cost of USD 100 per square meter.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade explained that both projects are based on the same idea: a German partner company transports the ‘house factory’ to the given site, where by using the Hungarian technology and locally available construction materials – like gypsum, cement and iron – panels are made, from which then the houses can be assembled. Each of these projects employs over one thousand local people, he said.
In response to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Farkas explained that the main feature of their panel construction technology is that they put fittings between two gypsum boards and later they fill the gaps with concrete. Once the gypsum absorbs the water from the concrete, it quickly becomes solid and in a matter of days the houses can be built. He also noted that the agreement also includes the training of local staff.
The CEO also told MTI that other African countries and Pakistan, too, are showing interest in the technology, which provides a possibility to build higher quality, yet still affordable houses, replacing shanty towns.
(MTI / Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
