What is the name of your organization?
Association la Voute Nubienne
What is the name of your solution?
La Voûte Nubienne
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
An ancient architecture addressing this century's housing and construction challenges, with cross-cutting impacts, in Africa
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
34190 Ganges, France
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
France
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Africa, millions of rural families live in precarious dwellings built with cement blocks and covered with metal sheets - materials that amplify thermal discomfort and offer little protection against extreme weather events. This situation affects local economies, resilience capacities, health, education, and social cohesion, particularly for women who are most concerned with housing issues.
In Northern Ghana, 46% of the population lives below the poverty line in inadequate housing, and the country faces a housing deficit of 1.8 million units.
This crisis is exacerbated by three interdependent factors:
Dependence on imported materials (cement, steel, metal sheets) represents up to 80% of construction costs, and on comfort energy resources (ventilation), creating capital flight and a high carbon footprint.
Seasonal unemployment affecting over 70% of rural youth during the 7-month dry season, leading to rural exodus, family socio-economic imbalance, and engagement in risky activities.
The absence of adapted architectural alternatives hinders communities' ability to develop resilient endogenous solutions.
With Africa set to host 50% of the world's youth by 2050, these challenges require immediate implementation of systemic mechanisms enabling the scaled deployment of innovative architectural solutions
What is your solution?
Our solution: The Nubian Vault (NV) in North Ghana
Our proposal for Northern Ghana deploys a proven methodology for regional-scale dissemination of a 3,500-year-old earthen construction technique that creates resilient buildings and green jobs. Our systemic approach articulates three complementary axes:
1. Development of a favorable environment: partnerships with local operators who integrate and deploy a market-based methodology for NV dissemination and support this emerging sector long-term across their territories, creating climate-responsive housing ecosystems.
2. Creation of a structured supply: selection, dual training, and employment of rural youth during the dry season, developing a professional eco-construction sector by master trainers transferring technical know-how and basic entrepreneurial quality adapted to local contexts and resources.
3. Stimulation of diversified demand: awareness actions and innovative financial mechanisms enabling rural families and communities to access affordable, comfortable NV buildings, with support systems for demonstrative construction projects that showcase benefits.
Our solution builds on experience gained in six other West African countries, where we've already built 10,000 buildings and trained 2,500 artisans with several local partners, proving its scalability and adaptability.
In Upper East Ghana specifically, we've trained 30 builders and constructed 120 buildings, establishing the foundation for more ambitious deployment in North.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves four main categories of beneficiaries:
Rural families living in inadequate housing that compromises their economy, health, and safety. Access to highly durable NV housing improves their quality of life: better thermal comfort (indoor temperature reduction of 7°C), construction process reintegrated into self-building practices, reduced energy expenses, and greater resistance to extreme weather events. These buildings improve children's learning conditions and strengthen family stability.
Agricultural producers create their own storage and processing buildings with optimal thermal and hygrometric performance, preserving their products and increasing their added value. These affordable infrastructures improve their income and strengthen their economic resilience.
Rural youth with limited formal education facing seasonal unemployment find adapted professional training, sustainable local employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the most enterprising, while remaining close to their families.
Local communities and authorities access an endogenous green solution addressing housing and employment challenges. They strengthen their local economy (80% of construction costs reinvested locally), largely reduce dependence on imported materials, and regain cultural cohesion with their environment, while avoiding 20 t. eq. CO2 per 25 m² NV building and having access to adapted infrastructure.
This integrated approach can impact approximately 4,000 people over 2 years per mobilized community.
