The African Union for Housing Finance is a member-based association involved in the mobilisation of funds for affordable shelter and housing on the African continent. The AUHF consists of mortgage banks, building societies, housing corporations and other African housing finance organisations.

Scope and Objectives of the AUHF

The AUHF is committed to promoting housing finance on the African continent.

The AUHF is grounded on the following objectives:
• Identifying and connecting stakeholders to establish a vibrant and supportive housing finance sector across the African continent.
• Understanding and communicating the key issues facing practitioners and our members in the housing sector in Africa.
• Promoting best practice in the affordable housing industry across Africa.
• Enabling members to respond to the challenges and opportunities within the contexts of their businesses, supporting better engagement between the public and private sectors.
• Promoting and driving effective professional development among its members through the provision of housing finance training.
• Providing members with opportunities to network with one another, share information and build capacity towards improved housing finance systems in Africa. This is done through conferences, seminars, workshops, AGMs, and member exchanges amongst other mechanisms.
• Ensuring the effective governance and sustainability of the AUHF.

Annual Conference and AGM

The main event of the AUHF the annual conference and AGM held in October. Each year, the conference is in a different country where one of the members plays the host.

The conference focuses on a range of housing and housing finance issues on the continent. It attracts a wide range of housing finance and development practitioners from the public and private sectors across Africa.

Monthly Newsletter

The AUHF publishes a monthly newsletter. This newsletter provides a summary of housing finance news in Africa, information about key players in the sector and information on events in the housing sector in Africa and further afield. This newsletter is open to the public, subscribe to receive the publication.

Research

The AUHF also commissions research and is currently in collaboration with the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa. Two studies have been completed as part of this collaboration, one on the housing finance sector in Benin and the other on Zimbabwe. Previously the AUHF received a grant to research housing finance demand and practice in four countries: Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa and Swaziland. All research by the AUHF is available in our publications

Networking Opportunities and Professional Development

The AUHF is committed to promoting networking and professional development opportunities for its members. The AUHF arranges discounts for its members to attend conferences and workshops in the African housing finance space.

The AUHF has:

• Run training courses for middle and senior management in housing finance institutions. These courses were held in Nairobi and Harare, leading to discussions on the establishment of an African Union training Institute in Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Participated in drawing up the Global Shelter Strategy through private and public sector initiatives.
• Organised and run workshops.
• Facilitated the formation of national associations of housing finance institutions in Kenya and Nigeria.
• Liaised with international organisations where the donors negotiated capital grants and loans on behalf of members for specific housing projects.
• Provided position papers on African housing finance at various international forums including the Environmental Summit in Brazil in 1992.
• Commissioned a series of country position papers on AUHF member’s countries.
• Invited and introduced the Housing Faculty of the Wharton School Programme of the University of Pennsylvania in August 1999.
• Held meetings, seminars, and workshops in various member countries across the continent.
• Members have participated in the Housing Finance Course for Sub-Saharan Africa [2017 course]. A one-week course jointly delivered by the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Members received a 20% discount on course fees.

Opportunities for Members

As a product of its membership, AUHF members can propose specific areas of engagement and activity to suit their particular interests. Members can also direct research programmes to meet their specific needs and foster the objectives of the AUHF. Members may also decide to structure a regional chapter of the AUHF for more frequent local meetings.

For more information about the AUHF download the Memorandum of Incorporation.