More than half of the world population does not live in decent housing. How can Lafarge, which traditionally addresses key accounts, find a growth opportunity there?

Simply by an approach of innovation by the usages. Lafarge noted that millions of people around the world are working and are solvent, but live in houses (in hard) that they do not own. And therefore they do not renovate them, since without a property title they do not have access to credit. Lafarge's teams therefore built their affordable housing solutions in 2010.

What is it exactly? Buckets of retarded ready-mix concrete, designed for individuals and to be delivered by rickshaw directly at the heart of Indian slums, inaccessible to concrete mixers. Earth-cement, a new cement that mixes with raw earth to make an ecological adobe and avoids the cooking, responsible of the deforestation. Or programs of microfinance to sustain the afforable housing.

Lafarge has therefore built a new business model that creates value by the usages for the residents of favelas and slums, and economic value for the corporation.

Photo (c) Lafarge