Lines of Credit to Financial Institutions Demand for housing remains highest for individuals living at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) across SHELTER-AFRIQUE member countries. However, these individuals are always exclude from home ownership particularly through the formal mortgage market due to the associated perceived credit risks. Financing options for this income group remains scarce and largely informal. In the absence of accessible financing options, most lower income families end up building incrementally based on their needs and available resources.
This progressive building process may be carried out over several years and may entail acquiring land, building an initial structure and following with a series of expansions and improvements. We intend to make this more feasible through our Housing Micro-Finance Product.
The product is designed for beneficiaries who want to use the funds accessed for housing provision. The housing microfinance loans represent relatively small sums, borrowed for a much shorter term than a mortgage to match both the income streams of low-income clients and the construction costs of their incremental building steps.