British investment fund CDC Group is among four global development finance lenders gunning for membership in pan-African housing financier Shelter Afrique.
Shelter Afrique, which is eyeing a turnaround in its fortunes, has been eyeing new shareholders as it seeks to diversify its recently shrunk capital base and improve its balance sheet.
Shelter Afrique is jointly owned by 44 African governments including Kenya, the African Development Bank and African Re-Insurance Corporation.
British investment fund CDC Group is among four global development finance lenders gunning for membership in pan-African housing financier Shelter Afrique.
Shelter Afrique, which is eyeing a turnaround in its fortunes, has been eyeing new shareholders as it seeks to diversify its recently shrunk capital base and improve its balance sheet.
Shelter Afrique is jointly owned by 44 African governments including Kenya, the African Development Bank and African Re-Insurance Corporation.
The firm contends that increasing its shareholding base is critical to mobilising wider resources as it keeps an eye on sustaining financing for new projects amid a cash crunch.
"Institutions which have expressed initial interest following the efforts made (to bring on board new shareholders) include CDC- United Kingdom, Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and European Investment Bank (EIB)," said Shelter Afrique in an update.
It had disclosed earlier that it was targeting non-African countries and institutions such as CDC and housing corporations under its Class “C” shares category. Additional target African countries include Egypt, Angola, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.
To further boost its capital base, Shelter Afrique has also been pressing its primary shareholders, comprising the 44 African countries holding Class A shares, and Class B shareholders African Development Bank’s (AfDB) and African Reinsurance to honour delayed Sh36.3 billion statutory capital contributions.
Shelter Afrique revealed two weeks ago that Nigeria had injected Sh1.01 billion ($9.4 million) in additional capital, taking its stake to 14.77 percent, second behind Kenya’s 14.87 percent and ahead of the AfDB at 14.28 percent.
Nigeria previously held a 10.71 per cent stake in the firm as at December 2019.
Shelter Afrique managing director Andrew Chimphondah said they also received Sh713 million in additional capital from Rwanda, Uganda, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Togo, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.
The firm also plans to raise funds from the bonds market in two years to fund new real estate projects.
However, the return to the bond market is subject to its return to profitability.
It posted a Sh59 million loss for the year ended December 2019, from the Sh940.8 million loss reported in 2018.
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