The members of the African Union for Housing Finance, having met with colleagues from the public, private and NGO sectors from 73 countries over five days, and having held their 36th Annual General Meeting over a virtual platform on 5 November 2020, expressed their commitment to supporting the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals through investment into the delivery of affordable housing. This is Part 2 of a 2-Part series.
Credit: AUHF
The African Union for Housing Finance held its 36th Conference and Annual General Meeting on a virtual platform, from the 2nd – 6th of November, 2020. Presented with the support of the African Development Bank, the CDC, IFC Edge, iLima Digital Foundary, iBuild Global, Land Afrique and REALL, the meeting attracted 689 delegates from over 340 companies and across 73 countries. The conference theme, ‘Investing in the SDGs: Finding a Market Opportunity in Affordable Housing’ focused on the opportunities offered by housing in realising the Sustainable Development Goals, and the key efforts by market players to drive housing investment across Africa. Videos of the presentations and panel discussions are available on the AUHF YouTube Channel. Presentations are available on the AUHF website.
Herewith, the continuation of the declaration of the members:
We commit ourselves:
- As an African Union for Housing Finance, to:
- a) Actively engage governments and regional bodies in the pursuit of cross cutting interventions that support the growth of affordable housing markets post COVID-19, promoting effective and mutually beneficial public-private partnerships between players in the housing value chain to unlock capital and deliver affordable housing.
- b) Support AUHF members in developing appropriate responses to the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19 within the contexts of their businesses, embracing the SDG’s and leveraging housing to support the larger goals of poverty reduction, gender inequality and environmental sustainability etc.
- c) Develop innovative ways to finance the delivery, sale and rental of affordable housing. We recognise the opportunities to be found in new technologies which enable better underwriting of informal incomes, expanding access to housing finance for underserved households. It his, we commit to encourage lenders to proactively push the mortgage frontier downwards and to scale up housing microfinance.
- d) Motivate for the adoption of viable and promising alternative building or financial technologies that have potential to scale the delivery of affordable housing and the policy frameworks that support its implementation.
- e) “Make housing visible” by engaging and encouraging different players in the housing ecosystem to collect and share data in both formal and informal housing markets, utilising robust evidence-based success stories and best practices in different geographies to demonstrate the viability and replicability of affordable housing projects. In this, we commit to supporting and implementing the Data Agenda for Africa.
- f) promote and drive effective professional development among our members through the provision of training and capacity building opportunities;
- g) provide our members with opportunities to network with one another, share information and build capacity towards improved housing finance systems in Africa, through the delivery of conferences, seminars, workshops, member exchanges and other mechanisms;
- h) grow our membership base, in order to facilitate the affordable housing conversation among the breadth of practitioners involved on both the demand and supply sides of affordable housing; and
- As individual organisations involved in the financing and delivery of housing across Africa, to:
- a) Work collaboratively towards achieving and attaining the SDGs, particularly SDG11, actively seeking and designing relief and response measures that address the impact of COVID19, climate change and other emergencies, to support households in their realisation of quality, affordable housing outcomes
- b) Recognise climate change risk as a new financial risk and begin to understand how to price in and manage this risk through the products and services that we deliver.
- c) Intentionally structure portfolios to balance financial and non-financial (social impact/ environmental sustainability) returns.
- d) Develop and mobilise innovative construction techniques and other technologies to optimise the housing value chain, scale delivery and access to capital.
- e) Leverage local materials and labour in housing construction, building local supply chains for housing, to maximise economic recovery and build our local economies.
- f) Lobby and advocate for, and actively participate in the increased availability of data and market intelligence that supports the housing finance sector.
- g) Actively seek projects and investments, and to develop products and services, that respond to the breadth and diversity of demand at the base of the income pyramid, prioritising affordability in our efforts, including leveraging emerging green and energy efficient systems to enhance affordability;
- h) Uphold ethical business practices, championing the Principles for Responsible Investing and tracking our performance with respect to environmental, social and corporate governance metrics. In the delivery of products and services to our clients we are committed to sound and effective consumer education to support their sustainable entry into the property market;
- i) Track these commitments with clearly defined key performance indicators, to which we will each contribute, and will report back on these at our next AGM.
Conclusion
The AUHF and its members look forward to working with governments and other stakeholders, in our respective cities, countries, and across the continent, in driving investments in Africa’s housing sector so that we realise real housing affordability and economic recovery across the continent.
Signed on 5 November 2020
AUHF Board of Directors:
Andrew Chimphondah, CEO, Shelter Afrique – Chair
May Abdelhamid, CEO, Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, Egypt – Vice Chair
Kehinde Ogundimu, CEO, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company – Treasurer
Mfundo Mabaso, Growth Head, FNB Home Finance, FirstRand Bank Limited, South Africa – Secretary
Oscar Mgaya, CEO, Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company
Christian Agossa, Director General Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire de l’UEMOA
David Akinin, CEO, Atenu Developments, Namibia
Mildred Mutesa, Managing Director, Zambia National Building Society
On behalf of the following active members of the AUHF:
- American Homebuilders of West Africa
- Atenu Developments, Namibia
- Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire de l’UEMOA (CRRH-UEMOA)
- CBZ Bank Limited, Zimbabwe
- Central Africa Building Society, Zimbabwe
- David Lahu, Individual member
- Echostone, Nigeria
- eSwatini Housing Board
- Family Homes Fund, Nigeria
- FBC Building Society, Zimbabwe
- First National Bank Ghana
- FNB Home Finance, FirstRand Bank Ltd
- FSDKenya
- GAP Solutions, South Africa
- Genius Investment, Ida, Mozambique
- Habitat for Humanity International
- Haggai Mortgage Bank, Nigeria
- Home Finance Company of the Gambia
- Home Finance Guarantors Africa Reinsurance Limited
- Homelink (Pvt) Ltd, Zimbabwe
- Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company
- National Housing Finance Corporation, South Africa
- Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company
- Property KRO
- Select Advisors Limited
- Shelter Afrique
- Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund in Egypt
- SOLUTI Finance East Africa Ltd
- Steward Bank Limited
- Swaziland Building Society
- Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Ltd
- TUHF Limited, South Africa
- Watumishi Housing Company, Tanzania
- Zambia National Building Society
- Zambian Home Loans
- ZB Bank Limited, Zimbabwe
- 14Trees Ltd
