MALI – Shelter-Afrique, a pan-African housing development finance institution, has received US$2 milllion from the government of Mali, being the full settlement of its capital subscription arrears.
Mali becomes the fifth shareholder to fully settle Shelter-Afrique’s 2013 and 2017 calls for funds after Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Morocco and Namibia.
Mr. Andrew Chimphondah, the Director General of the Shelter-Afrique group, flattered the government of Mali for its demonstration of confidence in the institution and recalled that Mali has often shown the way in ensuring that the company is well capitalized.
“This is a strong proof of confidence in Shelter-Afrique on the part of the member countries who consider that the institution is now better governed and that it has considerably improved its financial performance,” noted Mr. Chimphondah.
“This is a strong proof of confidence in Shelter-Afrique on the part of the member countries who consider that the institution is now better governed and that it has considerably improved its financial performance.”
Andrew Chimphondah -Director General, Shelter-Afrique
“As a result, shareholders supported the recapitalization of the institution as demonstrated by the capital injection from Mali and recent contributions from other countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Morocco, Lesotho and Namibia.”
In recent years, the company has raised a total of US$82 million and continues to advocate for collective action for affordable housing in Africa.
Mr. Chimphondah noted that the capital payment comes at an ideal time for the company; Shelter Afrique built a healthy loan pipeline after resuming activities in 2019.
“We have built a robust US$842 million loan pipeline since we resumed processing new loans in 2019. This means that we need a strong capital base to fund the various housing projects across the continent,” said Mr. Chimphondah.
“Member countries and shareholders honoring their very critical capital obligations to support Shelter Afrique in its quest to deliver decent and affordable homes to all Africans given the yawning housing shortage of 56 million housing units across Africa.”
In addition to capital subscription, the CEO said the company is considering various options for raising capital, including debt options through the issuance of local currency bonds in order to develop and deepen the capital markets in Africa.
“We are considering lifting an East African bond (in key markets like Kenya (to serve mainly Kenya and other countries in the East African region), Nigeria (for a Naira-denominated bond) and an in FCFA,” declared Mr. Chimphondah.
This decision comes a few days after the Togolese government pledged to pay for its capital subscription, which currently stands at US$103,000. In addition, the government of Togo is in talks with Shelter-Afrique to increase its capital subscription to 10% in order to obtain a permanent seat on the Board of Directors of the Company.
With a view to its return to the capital market, Shelter-Afrique recently concluded a strategic partnership with the World Bank. The latter provided a grant of US$200,000 to support the Company’s capital market program.
The financing will strengthen Shelter-Afrique’s institutional, operational and technical capacity for the recovery of the Company’s credit rating and a strong comeback in the capital markets.
Shelter-Afrique is a pan-African housing finance and development institution created by African governments to address the need for a sustainable system of housing provision and related infrastructure projects in Africa.
Its shareholders are 44 African countries, the African Development Bank and the African Reinsurance Company (Africa-Re).
