By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved over US$8.2-million equity investment in Africa’s housing.
The funds would be invested under Shelter Afrique, Africa’s housing and habitat company, to strengthen its balance sheet and help achieve its objective of providing quality affordable housing on the continent.
The equity investment which was approved on February 18, this year marks an important step towards addressing the acute shortage of housing in most African countries, while creating jobs and enhancing income in Africa.
Shelter Afrique is the only pan-African organisation devoted to financing the development of proper housing and human settlements in Africa.
It was created in 1982 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with the current shareholding comprising 44 African countries
This is contained in a statement issued by AfDB accessed by the Business Times in Lusaka yesterday.
According to the statement, Africa’s economic landscape remains positive with a promising scope for growth while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth remains robust.
The continent’s growing population, a growing middle class and the fastest urbanisation rate in the world, are some of the factors driving increased demand for affordable houses and housing finance.
It indicates that the construction sector in Africa was growing at 20 per cent  per annum, but that this could not sufficiently address the rising demand for housing due to various technical and physical constraints .
“This includes lack of accessible and well-priced housing finance, complex land tenure systems,  high costs of land registration and titling, cumbersome registration processes  and  availability of
reputable developer with sufficient capacity,” read the statement in part.
The AfDB’s equity participation is part of an ongoing capital increase by Shelter Afrique’s shareholders.
It would support Shelter Afrique to implement its revamped Strategic Plan which is focused on modeling Shelter Afrique as a Pan-African Development Finance Institutions  (DFI)  with a capacity to respond to the growing demand for affordable housing and related infrastructure services.
It would further enhance Shelter Afrique’s capital base and help solve Africa’s housing finance challenges.
Through this contribution, AfDB would leverage Shelter Afrique’s technical capabilities, field presence and local knowledge of the regional housing market and help alleviate some of the structural financing inefficiencies encumbering Africa’s real estate growth.