Dutch Engineer Hopes To Solve Housing Problem In Africa

 A Dutch engineer, who will solve the housing problem in Africa. If you put it that way it sounds grotesque, Teun Van Sambeek knows. Almost megalomaniacal.

And yet that is what he has set for himself. He has been working on it for about eight years. With the signing of a construction contract for 320 homes for the Nigerian army two weeks ago, his dream suddenly comes closer. Two homes are built according to Van Sambeek high-tech concept; the rest is rising traditionally.

But hopefully the project runs so smoothly and these two test houses are so convincing that he then has the means to build the concrete factory that he has in mind. Not just a factory, but a very advanced production line where prefab elements are realized on special concrete tables that slide through the hall like a conveyor belt. For this he has entered into a partnership with the German manufacturer Ebawe.

Only in this way can you achieve the required quality according to Van Sambeek, while that can also be done at a favorable price because of the scale. “The house does not fall apart spontaneously after five years, like most houses in Africa. It can therefore be depreciated over a much longer period, making it on balance 30 to 40% cheaper than the houses that are built in a traditional way. ”

For a small factory with around twenty concrete tables and a corresponding training institute, Van Sambeek needs around 14 million euros. For a large factory, it is threefold. But then the economies of scale also increase accordingly. For three-quarters, financing is in the form of a German export subsidy. But getting the other quarter together is difficult. “Investors are still hesitant to invest their money in projects in Africa.”

He lost his interest in Dutch construction, says Van Sambeek in a building on an industrial estate in Nuenen. With the consultancy that he ran with his father, he supervised the construction of, among other things, ten large Pathé cinemas in the Netherlands. He himself wrote the programs of requirements and subsequently managed the construction from design to completion. He also developed the Pieter van den Hoogenband swimming stadium together with the municipality of Eindhoven. Really no childish projects. When the crisis came to an end, the bureau stopped and Van Sambeek Junior started working at Vesteda Project as deputy director. He also worked for a few years as director of project development at Van Der Looy.

But the hour-invoice culture and the increasing legalization of the work began to stand against him more and more. He decided not to postpone the dream he had already had for a while, and started working on developing a concept for good quality but affordable housing for Sub-Saharan Africa.

All kinds of materials and construction techniques were reviewed. From blocks of pressed grass or loam to wood and steel frame construction. But in the end he came out with prefab concrete. “This allows you to realize reliable multilayer buildings that do not fall apart after five years. And you have to be multi-layered, because otherwise you cannot absorb the population explosion of Africa in an affordable way. The population of the continent is growing from 1.2 to 4.4 billion this century. What happens in cities like Lagos is already apocalyptic. Twenty million people are currently living there, and every day about 3,000 new inhabitants are added. ”

So he came up with that idea of those concrete factories and the associated company Betoniq. He admits that he might be hereditary. In the non-residential construction projects that he formerly developed, prefab concrete often played an important role. His father already spent decades on the much praised prefab-concrete factories of Hurks. As a child, Teun played between the molds there. It was not by chance that he came out of concrete.

“But I do not think it would be a less ambitious start,” he emphasizes. “Quality control is the Achilles heel of Africa. You never know if people use the right materials. Whether they are removing a reinforcing bar at the last moment or replacing a bag of cement with sand. That is why we need a completely controlled production process. A factory with a fence around it, a school to train employees and a compound where they can live. This way the knife cuts on multiple sides.”

It was mainly the plans for his own training institute that brought him into contact with the former general, jet fighter pilot and former head of the military intelligence service, Monday Riku Morgan. Rabobank brought the two together. Morgan wants to set up technical education in Nigeria again. That was completely lost during President Jonathan’s regime. It immediately clicked between Van Sambeek and the General. It eventually led to the signing of the project in the city of Otukpo, three weeks ago. The houses are mainly intended for retired soldiers who move back to their province of origin. The signing of the contract even made Nigerian television.

Van Sambeek: “The army is by far the most reliable client in the country and develops a lot of real estate. So this is really a serious contract. Construction will start on 22 September. The army also indicated that it would like to build 2,000 apartments in Otukpo within a few months with our company.”

In addition, Betoniq signed a contract for a 1000 housing project for members of parliament in Abuja, the city where the government is based. That is also a very solid client. “With these orders that factory will really come. And once it is there, there is no longer any hold. Because if you can build 1000 homes, you can also realize 10,000. And why not 100,000? You can, after all, open several factories. Demand is not an issue. That is unlimited.”