dyton mupawaenda
Talent Chimutambgi-Herald Reporter
Shelter Afrique, a pan-African financial institution with footprints in 44 countries on the continent, is targeting a combined 250 000 housing units per month in its quest to provide affordable accommodation options to African citizens.
This was revealed at the Shelter Afrique summit, which began on Tuesday at the International Conference Centre (CIC) in Abdellatif Rahal, Algeria, and ended yesterday. This year’s theme was, “Transforming Shelter Afrique into a Development Bank for Sustainable Housing and Urban Development in Africa.”
The institution was created exclusively to support real estate and housing development in Africa, and it partners with 44 African governments, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa-Re). It builds strategic partnerships and offers a variety of products and related services to support the efficient delivery of affordable housing and commercial real estate.
Zimbabwe is a member of the African configuration, and its affiliation is critical, since the country is facing housing challenges, with the current backlog estimated at almost two million.
Speaking on the side-lines of the summit in Algeria, National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe said the conference was significant as it would enhance housing delivery in Africa in line with the set targets and regional priorities.
“The African configuration is targeting 250 000 housing units per month using new technology. We have also scheduled a bilateral meeting with the Algerian Housing Ministry for cross-pollination of ideas in line with modern technology and the sizes of housing units,” he said.
Minister Garwe said members deliberated and agreed that the geographical location of the pan-African financial institution, currently headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, should remain unchanged, unless there are unforeseeable circumstances, like the outbreak of war. However, there were suggestions to open regional offices, with Zimbabwe envisaged to host one such office in Harare.
The minister said there were four main objectives at the summit, among them, the re-alignment of the institution to suit its purpose with the focus being on its composition and shareholding.
“We will also discuss the share structure and the board composition, which includes member states, like Zimbabwe, in Class A. Class B comprises institutions such as the African Development Bank, and the third class includes all investors, who want to partner with Shelter Afrique,” Minister Garwe said. “On the distribution of funds, Class A will get 40 percent shareholding, while classes B and C will get 30 percent. This means the major stake is in the hands of classes B and C, with the member states having less benefits. So, these are some of the changes in the composition that are taking centre stage at the discussion. This will enable member states to have full control in share stake.”
Since Shelter Afrique was created in 1981 with the thrust to provide affordable houses for African citizens, members are of the view that if the shareholding and composition are controlled by people driven by profit, the institution would have departed from the reasons that informed its creation.
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