daniel chigunwe
Columbus Mabika
Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe will next month host the 41st Shelter Afrique annual general meeting and symposium in Victoria Falls attended by Ministers of Housing, housing financiers, and experts on the built environment and climate change drawn from 45 African countries.
The meeting will be running under the theme: “Climate Change and the Built Environment.”
Shelter Afrique is a Pan African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of housing in Africa and is a partnership of 45 African governments, the African Development Bank and the Africa Reinsurance Corporation.
It dates back to 1981 when African nations signed an agreement that gave birth to the organisation with full operations commencing in 1982.
The mandate for Shelter Afrique is to build strategic partnerships and offer a host of products and related services to support the efficient delivery of affordable and sustainable housing and commercial real estate.
In a statement yesterday, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Daniel Garwe said the meeting will create lessons for Zimbabwe in best contemporary housing practices and innovations in line with National Development Strategy 1 leading to the realisation of Vision 2030.
Alongside the general meeting President Mnangagwa will break the ground for the next batch of walk-up flats, a continuous process now, and there will be a business exhibition and a symposium aimed at creating an avenue for collaboration and synthesising emerging lessons, knowledge-sharing, best practices and innovations in housing and social amenities development.
“The meeting demonstrates the renewed interest in Zimbabwe as an investment destination and will provide a window of opportunity for the Government to shape the human settlements narrative as we journey towards modern and affordable houses.
“This is in tandem with the National Development Strategy 1 and shows the significance of the engagement and re-engagement drive as insinuated by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” said the statement.
Minister Garwe said the world is also experiencing dramatic climate-induced changes that are negatively impacting the built environment especially human settlements.
“Climate change has a significant influence on the social and environmental determinants of health, clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food, and housing security among others. More so, member countries are not strangers to extreme weather patterns which include excessive floods, winds, and cyclones among others which directly impact on human settlements,” he said.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for member countries to showcase their responsiveness to climate change in the built environment. It provides an opportunity for the nation to welcome and host African counterparts and stakeholders as Zimbabwe will be assuming chairmanship of the Bureau of the General Assembly taking over from Cameroon.
Zimbabwe formally joined Shelter Afrique in November 1993 and is one of the five countries that have fully paid-up its capital subscription. Zimbabwe continues to be an active member in the Class A shareholder category and has often led the region in being the base of Shelter Afrique’s investments.
Shelter Afrique has invested US$58,2 million in Zimbabwe accessed by local financial institutions.
The company has also extended a sovereign loan facility in excess of US$25 million to Zimbabwe and other member countries.
Online Reporter