Shelter Afrique the Pan-African finance institution exclusively supporting the development of affordable housing and real estate sector in Africa, today, broke ground with partner Karibu Homes-Parktel at the Riverview Estate located in Athi River, Mavoko.
In attendance were the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Charity Ngilu, senior representatives from the Ministry of Lands, the Managing Director and senior management of Shelter Afrique, the founders of Karibu Homes-Parktel as well as senior representatives from Housing Finance, KCB, Rafiki DTM, Jamii Bora and Standard Bank.
Welcoming participants to the ground breaking ceremony, the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique Mr. James Mugerwa commented on his belief that projects of scale were necessary for affordable housing, adding “I have always personally felt that the housing sector would benefit largely from scalability; projects of scale; this is something that I am very passionate about and this is something I can assure you Shelter Afrique will be involved in going forward”.
1074 units will be constructed on the Riverview estate from prices ranging from KSH1.6M to KSH5M, with different products from turnkey to products which homeowners can finish themselves.
The project will be staggered in phases with work on the first phase already begun; the entire cost of the project is set at KSH 2.9bn with Shelter Afrique providing KSH540M for the first phase of development and funding for subsequent phases.
Addressing participants the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Mrs. Charity Ngilu commended Shelter Afrique and Karibu Homes-Parktel for the development but used the opportunity to challenge all stakeholders to do more, she went on to say “I would like to take the challenge to the management of Shelter Afrique, I want to see more and I am sure I speak for the people of Kenya, they want to see more”
The ground-breaking ceremony also featured the ceremonial laying of a cornerstone by the Cabinet Secretary, the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique and the Founders of Karibu Homes-Parktel.

Shelter Afrique; the Pan-African finance institution, exclusively supporting the development of affordable housing and real estate sector in Africa received a delegation from the Ministry of Housing and the NHCC, Uganda.

The delegation which was led by the Minister of Lands, Honorable Daudi Migereko also comprised of the NHCC Chair, Amb. Agnes Kalibbala and the Acting Managing Director of the NHCC, Mr. Parity Twinomujuni. The delegation was received by the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Mr. James Mugerwa for a two-day working visit.

Top of the agenda was the MoU signed between Shelter Afrique and the Ministry of Lands and Housing Uganda, it will be recalled that the two institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the 28th of October 2014. The MoU will see the two party’s partner for the delivery of large scale affordable housing and other related infrastructure specifically for social housing and middle-income earners.

The Government of Uganda has identified and secured land of approximately 260 Hectares (650 acres) in various parts of the country. In addition, land at various locations under Uganda Land Commission as well as privately owned land has been identified and earmarked for development of the housing Program. The project is currently at the feasibility stage with a consultant identified to carry out the study which will include 40 days of fieldwork and submission a detailed report.

It is expected that the project will move to pre-development stage after the feasibility is concluded; pre-development will involve sourcing debt and construction partners. Both institutions committed themselves to providing solutions to rising demand for housing in Uganda.

Shelter Afrique has a long history with Uganda; this visit follows on from recent signing of the MoU with the Ministry of Lands; the signing with the NHCC Uganda for a $9 Million facility in July of 2014.

Beyond that the company also has a number of notable projects previously undertaken in Uganda, including: Namuwongo slum upgrading in partnership with the Government; Naalya Project, NHCC’s first project with SHELTER-AFRIQUE; Simbamanyo commercial building currently housing a Government Ministry and Hotel Afrique Suites.

The two day working visit also include site visits to some of Shelter Afrique marquee projects in the city of Nairobi.

Shelter Afrique; the Pan-African Finance Institution exclusively supporting the development of affordable housing has appointed Arc. Mariamu El-Mawy as the new chairman of its board.

The appointment was made during the 104th board meeting which took place at its headquarters in Nairobi; Kenya. It will be recalled that a new board was appointed at 33rd the Annual General Meeting which held in Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire.

The board, which consists of ten members, also welcomed new members representing different groups; the new members are Alh. Yahaya Hameed Yakubu from Ghana; Mr. Ceferino Eburi Mata from E.Guinea, Mr. Sanders Mutandwa a Zimbabwean nation representing the African Development Bank and Mrs. Kanini Mutooni a Kenya national who will serve as an independent director.

Arc. El-Mawy is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and was elected to the board in 2013. According to the statutes and by-laws of the housing financier the board is expected to serve a term of three years after which a new board will be elected.

The new board members were welcomed and tasked to see themselves as more than directors for the groups they represented or their countries of origin but to challenge themselves as directors of a Pan-African institution whose activities has lasting impact on several African families. The next board meeting is expected to convene in December of 2014.

The future of housing in Africa is pegged on a shift in focus towards rental housing. These were observations made during a panel discussion chaired by Shelter Afrique on the issues affecting housing in Africa.
Panelists at the event held at a Nairobi hotel outlined the various advantages that can be accrued from establishing a formal rental housing system. Femi Adewole the Director of Portfolio Management at Shelter Afrique remarked on the need for long term capital investment in order to construct the rental homes.
“With about 90% of Africa’s population unable to buy a house or even qualify for a mortgage, there is need to make a serious mental shift towards formal rental housing as a viable option to solve the housing crisis” remarked James Mugerwa the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique.
“We must break the housing unit the same way we broke down the mobile phone – Lands PS Mariam El Maawy. Investors and the Government must flag important policy to spur housing development.
The forum that brought together government officials, private rental property owners, financiers and nongovernmental organization in housing sector comes ahead of a pan africa wide conference to be held in October. The conference themed “Formal Rental Housing in Africa: A Critical Option in the Challenge of Providing Affordable for All” is an open forum to discuss formal rental housing as a critical housing option, with a view to formulating concrete proposals on how best to stimulate this sector in Africa.

Shelter-Afrique’s newly appointed Director, Business Development, Mr. Mouhamodou Gueye paid a courtesy call to Nigeria’s Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi on Tuesday, 22nd July, 2014.

The purpose of the courtesy visit was to officially communicate to the Ministry of the commencement of operations in the West African Regional Office of Shelter-Afrique situated in Abuja, Nigeria. The Director, Business Development assured the Minister that Shelter-Afrique has come to contribute its quota to ensuring that the 17million housing deficit in Nigeria is reduced to the minimum. He added that Shelter-Afrique had started doing this by investing $3million in the recently established National Mortgage Refinancing Company of Nigeria (NMRC).

The Minister advocated that Nigeria, being the largest shareholder in Shelter-Afrique should reap the commensurate benefits from Shelter Afrique, such as investing more in Nigeria and employing more Nigerians in the organization. The Minister noted that with huge housing deficit in Nigeria, and based on the fact that Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, Shelter Afrique has a large investment opportunity in Nigeria. She, therefore, called on the Resident Regional Representative, Mr. Oumar Diop to work with the Ministry for support with regards to embarking on business opportunity tour in the country, and visit to all the States of the Federation.

The Minister pledged her support for Shelter Afrique’s activities in Nigeria.

Shelter Afrique the Pan-African Housing Financier has advanced a USD8M [KSH704M] loan to the Kenya Medical Association for the construction of 160 housing units in Mombasa for exclusive sale to members of the association.

The loan which follows the approval by the Shelter Afrique board in March 2014 sees Shelter Afrique partner with the KMA yet again having already jointly financed two of the KMA’s housing projects.

Signing the loan documents, the Acting Managing Director, Mr. Yekini Olayanju remarked on the nature of Shelter Afrique’s relationship with the KMA stating that “with the KMA we are on familiar territory and it pleases us to be in a position yet again to strengthen our relationship with them. Shelter Afrique is always happy to play our part in developing the housing sector in our host country of Kenya, which till date is our strongest market and portfolio.”

Responding for the KMA the Chairman Dr. Hezra. Opere thanked Shelter Afrique for once again welcoming the KMA to the fold and stated that “the KMA is very happy to be considered once again for a facility and our track record speaks for itself; we can assure that we will honour the terms of the agreement and we want to encourage all our members to take advantage of this and to cross the divide to home ownership”. He continued that the KMA is committed to improving the lives of its members and will continue to find avenues to do so.

During her brief remarks the Secretary for the KMA, Dr. Josephine Omodi also thanked Shelter Afrique for the facility and joined the chairman in encouraging members to make the most of the association, she further commented on the importance of home ownership and how developing the real estate sector was necessary for any stable economy.

The signing ceremony which took place at Shelter Afrique’s HQ in Nairobi was witnessed by Senior Management, staff of Shelter Afrique and executive members of the KMA.

The signing also comes after concerted efforts by Shelter Afrique to reach out to Saccos, it will be recalled that the housing financier hosted Saccos to a business development cocktail in May to intimate them on their products and services. The signing also sees Shelter Afrique cap off a busy number of days; having signed a USD9M facility with the National Housing Construction Company of Uganda only a few days ago.

Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African finance institution exclusively supporting the development of housing affordable and the real estate sector in Africa signed a Agreement with the National housing and Construction Company.
The Agreement was signed by Mr. Yekini Olayanju the Acting Managing Director and Ambassador Anges Kalibbala the Chair of the NHCC, the delegation was was also comprised the Minister of Housing of Uganda, Honorable Daudi Migereko and the NHCC Managing Director, Mr. Felix Okoboi.
The objective of the USD9M loan is to provide financing for the NHCC to construct new and affordable housing units in Uganda for low-income individuals.
Yekini Olayanju, the Acting Managing Director of Shelter Afrique welcomed the NHCC and added “the project finance facility agreement between Shelter Afrique and NHCC Uganda is a step in the right direction and marks an important milestone for our two institutions, we are committed to support the government of Ugandan in rolling out housing PPP projects that will pave way for possible increase in capital subscription to ensure effective intervention for shelter Afrique in the markets.
On his part, the minister remarked “We are doing a good job but we have to do more and in good time. There is a lot of work to do, we need to do more, we also have to look at way to make the cost of housing materials cheaper, we have to find a way to become a part of the value-chain so we can control the cost”
Amb. Agnes Kalibbala thanked the Minister and the staff of Shelter Afrique. She said that she is glad to sign the agreement; she also said that the housing in Uganda is one of the biggest problems and she believes that the project will really help Ugandan people.

Felix Okoboi, the Managing Director of the NHCC also remarked that the signing is the culmination of a hard work, a very big step and the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

About NHCC

National Housing and Construction Company Limited (NHCC) is a Ugandan public enterprise that was established by the National Housing Corporation Act of 1964. The act was later repealed by the 1974 Decree to form National Housing and Construction Corporation.

Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African finance institution exclusively supporting the development of housing affordable and real estate sector in Africa signed a MOU with the Real Estate Developers Association Nigeria.

The MOU was signed by Mr. Emmanuel Olabode Afolayan the representative of Real Estate Developers Association Nigeria (REDAN) and Mr. Alassane Ba, the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique.

The objective of the signing is to begin a process which will end with, the building of ten thousand houses in Nigeria. Both parties expressed their commitment to providing affordable housing in Africa.

Alassane Ba, the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique welcomed the REDAN contingent and added “We will commit the necessary resources to the project and make sure the project takes place in good conditions and on time; because one of core principles of Shelter Afrique is to meet its commitments in a timely and cost effective fashion.
He also noted that the Nigerian market was full of potential and that was one of the reasons that the regional office was set up in Abuja.

On his part, Mr. Afolayan said that he was happy to sign the MOU and he is happy to know that the first steps to realise the project had been taken and this project would allow ten thousand families directly benefit. He stated that REDAN is eager to get finance and to make even more of a case for REDAN, he mentioned five projects that have been already completed.

About REDAN

The Real Estate Developer’s Association of Nigeria (REDAN) is the principal agency of the organized private sector recognized by government and approved by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) – the apex mortgage lender in Nigeria – to facilitate the delivery of affordable mass housing for Nigerians.

Shelter Afrique targets housing co-operatives for growth

Nairobi, May 27th, 2014. Pan African housing and urban development financier, Shelter Afrique is courting housing Saccos across the country; as it engages new ways to provide affordable housing to all Kenyans.

Addressing a group of Housing Saccos at a Nairobi hotel, Shelter Afrique’s Director of Business Development and Operations Femi Adewole said the company was keen on keying into the schemes and solving the challenges of housing being faced by member of various saccos.

“Most co-operatives have acquired landed properties which have been allocated to their members, what members need now is not land but a decent home, unfortunately most members cannot afford the lump sum to build on their allocated land. We have entered into deals with some saccos to finance development of decent but affordable housing for their members,” said Mr. Adewole.
High Bank rates

In a presentation anchored by Senior Investment Officer Maureen Katuversiraiuna and Team Leader of Direct Lending, Kahumbya Bashige; Bashige noted that loan facility and proper land documentation are usually a slow process; hence members may not get the requested facility from commercial banks to develop houses.

“There is also the issue of interest volatilities with commercial bank. We all recall the aftermath of the 2012 interest volatility which saw the interest rates on bank loans rise to as high as 25%. Shelter Afrique is able to offer a fairly stable interest regime because our sources of funding are different from those of commercial banks,” said Mr. Adewole added.

In the year 2012, Shelter Afrique extended a Ksh395 million development loan to Stima Investment to construct Stima Village – a 156 housing units project in Syokimau. In the ongoing Stima Village development, Shelter Afrique is stepping in to fund the development of 76 maisonettes, forty 40 three-bed roomed and 36 four bed roomed units.

In 2011, Shelter Afrique signed a Ksh560 million loan agreement with the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) Housing Co-operative Ltd to provide financing for its housing project. The KMA project is a comprehensive mixed user development comprising of 157 units consisting of 3-5 bedrooms of different types between 160 sq meters to 227 sq meters. The project is located in Mavoko, 1.1KM off Mombasa Road.

The Stima Village project and KMA Housing Project, Adewole disclosed, are some of Shelter Afrique’s major middle level investments geared at raising Kenya’s housing supply capacity.

“At Shelter Afrique, we are actively extending support to such projects as Stima Village and the KMA Housing projects as part of our corporate commitment to boost supply of affordable housing units for Kenya’s growing middle class among other social classes,” Katuvesirauina also added.
Incremental financing

The company has also partnered with Microfinance institutions to provide incremental financing for those willing to improve their housing. In February this year, Shelter Afrique signed a Ksh100 million low cost housing financing deal with Rafiki Microfinance Bank which will be extended to individuals seeking to own decent homes.

Under this program, Rafiki Microfinance Bank will disburse loans as low as Ksh20, 000 for home improvement, going up to Ksh5 million for mortgages in any across the country.