Shelter Afrique’s $52m intervention on 23 initiatives delivers 1,085 projects in 5yrs

The intervention of Shelter Afrique, the only pan-African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of the housing and real estate sector on the continent, in the Nigerian housing sector, has made appreciable impact too fundamental to ignore.
Between 2005 and 2010, the institution financed 23 initiatives in the country with a total of $52,175,000 which was approximately N10.435 billion given an exchange rate of N200 to $1.00 and this delivered a total of 1,085 projects within the five-year period.
Of these initiatives, 15 represented lending for construction of housing projects, the largest being $7 million for 376 houses of different types; 251 serviced plots; 287 mixed use housing units for a cooperative society; 55 housing units and 100 Serviced plots and the least was for 16 maisonettes.
Babatunde Fashola, Nigeria’s minister for power, works and housing, who gave these hints at Shelter Afrique’s 45th Annual General Meeting and Symposium in Abuja recently, also hinted that the remaining eight interventions were for mortgage financing to building societies, credit line for individual mortgages and related financing.
Fashola disclosed further that the institution had, over the last three years, given a financing of $60.4 million which was approximately N12.08 billion at N200 to $1.00 exchange rate in 10 interventions, adding that out of the 10 interventions, seven were for housing construction comprising 287 units, 90 units, 15 floor commercial complex, 59 housing units, 300 housing units, 130 apartments and 44 housing units on the supply side.
“The remaining three interventions were for equity investment in the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) which got $3million, and credit lines for on-lending for mortgage totaling $13 million (about N2.6 billion)”, the minister said.
He was mindful that Shelter Afrique was not the only interventionist in the market, but argued that if the institution’s interventions were used as a case study to benchmark the country, it could improve its efforts by measuring its progress and trying new things.
As the only pan-African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa, Shelter Afrique meets the needs of the continent’s rapidly growing urban population and its work has a direct and positive impact on the lives of many.
The institution is a partnership of 44 African governments including the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Africa Reinsurance Company, building strategic partnerships and offering a host of products and related services to support efficient delivery of affordable housing and commercial real estate.
Not-too-long ago, it signed a partnership agreement with Lafarge Africa on the provision of affordable housing in Nigeria. James Mugerwa, the Managing Director, described the partnership as a coming together of like-minds with shared vision. “We once again show that we are always keen on building strong partnerships and finding efficient ways to deliver affordable housing which is a shared vision we have with Lafarge; it also shows our joint commitment to Nigeria, a very important market for affordable housing and a key player in the region”, the managing director observed.
Shelter Afrique is also involved in project finance, institutional lending, equity investments and joint ventures, trade finance, and social housing. It also offers practical advice and technical assistance to a wide range of industry stakeholders.

CHUKA UROKO