James Mugerwa, the Shelter Afrique chief executive. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The loan will also go towards project finance but is limited to borrowers in the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) member states.
Pan-African housing lender Shelter Afrique has received a Sh2.5 billion ($25 million) loan from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) for onward lending.
The five-year loan will also go towards project finance but is limited to borrowers in ICD member states.
Though Kenya is excluded as a country, Nairobi-based Shelter Afrique said that there is still a possibility for Kenyan funding if foreign recipients in ICD member states opt to finance local projects.
ICD is part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group.
Shelter Afrique has been focusing on the low- and mid-level housing market by lending to developers who target these segments and accessing cheaper funds from development agencies, a trend that management has said would go on.
New partnerships
“We continue to create new partnerships and build on existing ones, our end objective is to make housing more affordable for all and whenever we encounter partners who share a similar goal or who can make it easier we are very pro-active,” said Shelter Afrique chief executive James Mugerwa.
The lender and real-estate developer Kingspride recently broke ground on a 240-apartment residential development in Kiambu town and a 200-apartment development in Athi River town.
Lenders are working with developers and even suppliers to reduce housing costs which have deferred the dream of home ownership for many Kenyans.
