The Habitat Center of Excellence was created to pool urban data, programs and policies implemented at the country level. The center was launched on July 8 with the objective of creating an analytical framework for the housing sector with a forward-looking vision.

The scale of housing demand throughout the WAEMU region has become a headache. Thus, the Commission initiated this project to strengthen the sub-regional approach and provide appropriate solutions to the problems. The Habitat Center of Excellence for the sub-region is an institution for action research and development of new skills. At the launch at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University during a workshop, Commissioner Filiga Michel Sawadogo, on behalf of the President of the WAEMU Commission, said that the center will deal with issues related to urban planning, housing, land management, basic urban services, financing and housing production. Bernard Zoma, vice-president of Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, the institution in charge of implementing the project, asked for everyone's involvement to guide the activities.