Category: news-room-2017

Shelter Afrique holds Regional Consultations with our shareholders, the meetings took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, for Francophone West Africa and Kenya for East Africa. These meetings were borne out of the fact that during the symposium held at Victoria Falls on the 5th of July 2017, the shareholders expressed the need for consultations between Shelter Afrique and Government officials of member countries responsible for housing policy and implementation of country programs.

In response to this, the Francophone Regional meeting held in on 14th and 15th of September 2017

1. In attendance were Mali, Togo, Niger, Guinea Conakry and Niger

2. The meetings objectives were to :

Have an overview of each country housing policy, strategy;
Review key priorities housing programs for each country;
Discuss key challenges and alternatives solutions;
Explain key needs of each country expects from SHAF;
Indicate tentative milestones to elaborate a road map per country;

3. The participants paid a courtesy call to the housing Minister of the host country, Participants also had the opportunity to visit the social housing program initiated by the Government.

Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African financier dealing exclusively with the development of affordable housing in Africa, has reacted to reports of cracks and building deficiencies at its joint venture project with Everest Limited.
The financier has stated that while it takes the welfare and safety of all the affected seriously, it was also equally important to set the record straight. Everest Park was developed with Everest Limited as a joint venture to which Shelter Afrique is a shareholder. Therefore Shelter Afrique as a separate entity does not have a mandate to manage the development. Shelter Afrique as a shareholder has exited the development, having completed the contractual six months’ quality control period.

Additionally, it should be noted that the cracks in the buildings are isolated to two blocks of which these cracks are recent manifestations, and residents have been living on the property for four years.

It was further revealed by the financier, that the developers have followed due process and has always cooperated with the National Construction Authority, National Building Inspectorate and the County Government.The inspection report is meant to be submitted ten days from the date of inspection; the inspection took place on the 18th of September 2017, a decision on how to resolve these matters cannot be taken before then.

Addressing reports of incurring a loss on the property, Shelter Afrique & Everest Limited, stated that this reporting was erroneous and should be corrected. The first phase of the development has been completely sold, and residents have taken ownership of the property.

It should also be considered that Shelter Afrique & Everest Limited have held meetings with directors of the Manager, Everest Park Management Limited Everest Park, on the 28th July 2017 and the 18th August 2017 in which the matter of the inspection by the NCA and the County Government was noted to be ongoing.

While remaining resolute that the facts of the matter be properly represented, Shelter Afrique, however, conceded that homeownership is a deeply personal matter and the safety, well-being and quality of life of the residents remain paramount. Shelter Afrique & Everest Limited have convened meetings with all stakeholders to address concerns as they wait for the inspection report to be filed.

Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African finance institution exclusively supporting the development of affordable housing and real estate sector in Africa and UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency responsible for Human Settlement and Housing have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see collaboration on delivering on the New Urban Agenda.
The New Urban Agenda is an action-oriented document which sets global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way countries build, manage, and live in cities. It was signed in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III.
The MoU which was signed during the 26th General Council of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya will see the two organisations work towards the delivering of an ambitious agenda for affordable housing on the continent. The ceremony which took place during a side-event at the 26th GC was attended by government and senior representatives of member countries and staff of Shelter Afrique as well as the staff of UN-Habitat.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Acting Managing Director for Shelter Afrique, Mr. Femi Adewole highlighted similarities in the New Urban Agenda and Shelter Afrique’s strategic vision for delivering impact on the continent. He remarked, “We are committed to this [action] because the the scale of the challenges that face us as a continent, require ambition, dedication and commitment”.
He continued “Our commitment to delivering on the objectives of the New Urban Agenda has always been resolute and frankly at this time for us as an organisation, necessary, but today we take the first of what will be many steps in realising it. We do this, also, in the expectation that our shareholders and members will match our commitment to delivering these objectives and use Shelter Afrique as the instrument for implementation.”
The MoU between the two organisations is set to deliver on the creation of a funding mechanism for housing and housing-related infrastructure in Africa by 2018 which will aim to raise a total of $1 billion by 2020. It will also elaborate a Pan-African Slum Eradication program based on best practices and successfully implement such a program in 20 countries by 2021.
Shelter Afrique and UN-Habitat also want to jointly create a coalition of large employers in Africa to implement “Employer Sponsored Housing Programs in Africa”. The programme should pledge to produce 100,000 housing units by 2020.
In addition to this, the two organisations expect to create a Rental Housing Promotion Initiative that will influence regulation and create the enabling environment for Rental Housing in Africa. Lastly, the organisations also want to immediately address the creation of a 360-degree Housing Policy Review to provide feedback to governments on policy flaws and Gaps and establish a monitoring mechanism to evaluate progress.
Speaking on behalf of African governments, Minister of Housing for Uganda, Hon. Chris Baroymunsi reaffirmed the commitment of African governments to the objectives of the New Urban Agenda and the success of both organisations. “I want to assure you that we will not pay lip-service to the goals set out today, I think I can speak on behalf of my colleagues on our commitment to the New Urban Agenda and Shelter Afrique. I will speak specifically for Uganda now; we have initiated several successful projects with Shelter Afrique and UN-Habitat. We rely on them for policy and implementation advice, and we have been grateful for their support, but we require ceremonies like this to recommit ourselves to the future of affordable housing in Africa”.
Shelter Afrique has announced it will hold its Annual General Meeting in July at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; UN-Habitat is expected to also play a role at that meeting.

Shelter Afrique the Pan-African Housing Financier dealing exclusively with the promotion of affordable housing has received a capital injection from some of its shareholders. The capital injection follows on from the capital call on arrears made at the Extraordinary General Meeting held in Nairobi, in January.
Shelter Afrique revealed that Cameroon and African Reinsurance, an institutional shareholder have made payments totaling $5.8m, with Cameroon contributing $2.3m and Africa Re contributing $3.5m.
Speaking on the developments, Acting Managing Director, Femi Adewole, expressed his pleasure, “Our shareholders continue to show that Shelter Afrique is viable and indeed valuable. These capital subscriptions show that our member countries and shareholders understand how critical affordable housing is to the growth of the continent, and how Shelter Afrique can be instrumental to achieving that and the objectives of the new urban agenda that was passed in Quito last year.”
Shelter Afrique also revealed that other shareholders had made commitments to make their contributions before the end of the year. Namely, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland and Zambia are all committed to a collective $47.2 before the end of June 2017
It is understood, as well, that the company is actively courting Class C shareholders; a new category of shareholders which was passed by the General Assembly in January. The company is said to have begun promising negotiations with some interested parties.
Shelter Afrique noted that shoring up the financial base of the company is in line with the company’s turnaround plan and follows on from the recommendation of the independent forensic report which was commissioned by the board.
Shelter Afrique expects continual engagement with its shareholders and stakeholders, and as it continues to show the value, it plays in achieving affordable housing in Africa and the New Urban Agenda, the organisation is confident it will be able to report on more commitments by shareholders shortly.
Shelter Afrique is expected to hold its 36th Annual General Meeting in Zimbabwe in June 2017.

Shelter Afrique the Pan-African Housing Financier dealing exclusively with the promotion of affordable housing has announced the appointment of an Interim CFO & Board Change agent, in keeping with the resolutions from the Extraordinary General Meeting held in January and the recommendation of the forensic audit done by Deloitte.

Mr. Ray Davies, a Sierra Leonean national has been appointed as the Interim CFO and Mr. Dave Jennings, a South African national has been appointed as the Change Agent.

Mr. Davies is a chartered member of the Institute of securities and investment and brings over 40 years of experience in financial services, risk & advisory roles. He has wide experience across Africa and the world, having worked in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Malawi, Lebanon and The United Kingdom, with companies like KPMG and Actis.

Mr. Jennings is a highly experienced executive with over 40 years of experience across Europe, America and Africa. He has worked in various executive positions, with specialisation in IT, Finance and operations. Mr. Jennings has experience of corporate finance transactions such as acquisitions, fund-raising (debt and equity) and disposals as well instrumental in floating an IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Making the announcement in Nairobi, Acting Managing Director, Femi Adewole spoke on the efforts being made by current management to implement the recommendation of the audit, “We are very pleased we are able to attract world class talents like Mr. Davies and Mr. Jennings, who bring over 80 years of combined experience. They will be invaluable to our restructuring going forward. We as management, are very keen on making good on the pledges we made to our shareholders and lenders and in turn, making sure they honour their commitment to us. The recruitment of the interim executives is just another in our continuous step to strengthening the organisation”

The executives, who resumed duties in the first week of march are expected to be in place for a period of two months, which will coincide with the 36th Annual General Meeting at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Shelter Afrique however, noted that their appointments were subject to extension at the board’s discretion.

It is expected the the CFO and the Change agent will assist in complete implementation of the audit report, which stressed a review of internal processes and accounting standards. A process that has already begun under new management.