Shelter Afrique Inks MOU With Two Chinese Construction Firms To Scale Up Development Of Affordable Housing

Shelter Afrique

ByJULIE OWINO

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 29 – Pan-African housing development financier, Shelter Afrique has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with two Chinese construction firms, Amberton International Holdings, and Sichuan Huashi Enterprise Corporations E.A. LTD, aimed at scaling up the development of large-scale affordable housing projects in Kenya and other Shelter Afrique member States.

 

The agreement which is expected to boost Shelter Afrique’s mandate of providing decent and affordable housing in Africa was signed in Nairobi by Shelter Afrique Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chimphondah, Amberton International Holdings Director Nancy Yu, and Sichuan Huashi Enterprise Corporations E.A. LTD Managing Director Cao Zheng.

“As a company, our overriding strategy is the provision of affordable housing across our member States through public-private partnerships.  This strategic partnership with Amberton and Huashi will be key in expanding our projects across the continent as we draw from the experiences of the two companies. Shelter Afrique will work closely with Amberton International Holdings as a co-developer for specific large-scale, low-cost housing projects in Africa, which will be constructor by Sichuan Huashi Enterprise Corporations E.A. LTD,” Chimphondah said.

He noted that some off-take projects had been identified in Kenya and in other markets such as Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Nigeria where Shelter Afrique has existing project pipelines.

“Already we are in the process of securing a few projects in Kenya with the Department of Defense, the Kenya Police and the Civil Service, for which we expect to break ground this year. These take-off projects will be aligned with Kenya government affordable housing plan under the Big 4 Agenda, which seeks to develop 500,000 housing units by 2022,” Chimphondah said.

Chimphondah said the majority of African countries were already facing a housing crisis with the overall housing shortage estimated at 56 million housing units across the continent. Out of this, more than 90% are in the affordable housing bracket.

“We believe our partnership with Amberton and Huashi will deepen our impact on Kenya’s and by extension, Africa’s affordable housing value chain, in particular, the supply side,” Chimphondah said.

Shelter-Afrique is owned by 44 African countries, the African Development Bank, and the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa-Re).

Axis Pensions initiates educative programme on personal finance

Addo_Kuffour

AXIS Pensions Trust Limited has rolled out an educative programme on personal finances to help sensitise the public to the rudiments of proper financial management.

Dubbed ‘Axis Smart Money Talk,’ the programme features a discussion with an expert on finance and is broadcast virtually on the company’s Facebook page.

In a release on the programme, Axis Pensions said the initiative was meant to help answer the “many pressing questions” that Ghanaians had on personal finance.

It said in spite of the pertinent nature of personal finances, not many people were exposed to information that would help them take the relevant decisions to improve their lots and protect their finances.

“The ‘Axis Smart Money Talk’ has been introduced to fill that void,” the statement copied to the Daily Graphic said.

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It explained that the ‘Smart Money Talk’ was an interactive talk show hosted by Axis Pension on Facebook live on facebook.com/axispensiontrust.

It said the programme was designed to empower Ghanaians to take control of their personal finance.

The release explained that the discussion topics included budgeting, debt management, estate planning, saving and building wealth.

Series on housing

It said housing was one critical priority of most Ghanaians and the company had decided to dedicate the entire October to discussing ways people could own homes.

“Securing real estate, either for business or for residential purposes is a huge undertaking.”

“In certain instances, the acquisition of real estate is conducted at the expense of liquidity in old age,” it said and added that the company had partnered with the First National Bank Ghana (FNB) to undertake the series housing.

It explained that the discussions would be interactive and focused on providing viewers with viable alternatives for acquiring property while also planning to retire in style.

It said among other people, the Executive Head of Home Loans at FNB, Mr Kojo Addo-Kufour, and Real Estate Consultant, Madam Dansoaa Adote, would be featuring as guests.

“These experienced and well-resourced experts in the real estate field have been assembled to discuss various related topics including ‘financing my dream home, ‘building wealth through real estate’ and ‘retirement planning and real estate – getting it right.”

The statement advised the general public to take charge of their financial future by joining the discussions to be informed.

It said the discussions would take place on October 7, 14 and 21 at 4pm on the Axis Pension Facebook page.

Shelter Afrique partners with World Bank to address affordable housing crisis in Africa

shelter Afrique partners with World bank to address affordable housing crisis in Africa

By SARA OKUORO

Pan-African housing development financier Shelter Afrique has entered into a strategic partnership with the World Bank aimed at addressing the affordable housing crisis evident across the continent.

The Sh20 million (USD200,000) Technical Assistance partnership will provide advisory services funded under the Joint Capital Markets Program (JCAP) aimed at supporting Shelter Afrique’s capital market program. 

The JCAP program is an initiative of the World Bank Group meant to create deep, efficient, and well-regulated local capital markets for expanded access to long-term, local-currency finance in key areas such as climate, housing and infrastructure.

“Shelter Afrique aims to build strategic partnerships and alliances with key industry players as part of its sustainable recovery and growth strategy,” said Andrew Chimphondah, Shelter Afrique Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful to the World Bank for offering technical assistance support which will be key in completing our turn around program.”

The partnership will enhance Shelter Afrique’s institutional, operational and the technical capacity targeting the reinstatement of investment grade credit rating and a strong return to the capital markets.  

“We anticipate that this partnership will help to deepen ShAf’s impact on Kenya’s affordable housing value chain, in particular, the supply side and subsequently help to bring down the country’s housing deficit,” said Simon Walley, World Bank Lead Financial Sector Specialist.

African countries are currently facing a housing crisis driven by high population growth, increased urbanization, poor urban planning, dysfunctional land markets, rising construction costs, proliferation of informal settlements, and underdeveloped financial systems. 

Overall shortage of housing in Africa is estimated at 56 million housing units according to research from Shelter Afrique’s Centre of Excellence (CoE). 

Out of this, more than 90 per cent are in the affordable housing bracket. The study notes that the solution lies in a well-coordinated and collaborative effort among all stakeholders, including governments, multilateral institutions, non-profit organizations, and the private sector.