AFRICA – Shelter Afrique, the only pan-African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa, has partnered with multi-national fintech startup iBUILD Global to manage its housing projects, reports Capital News.
This is according to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two firms in Nairobi, Kenya.
It is also mandated to account for all funds disbursed in Africa on behalf of the pan African organization.
The partnership will give Shelter Afrique the ability to report data on projects in real time as well as report the impact its financing is creating throughout the projects it supports.
Speaking during the signing, Shelter Afrique’s Managing Director Andrew Chimpondah said they hoped to use the partnership for capacity building purposes.
“We look to benefit through the partnership by using the platform to increase the training of developers, contractors, artisans and also the reporting of employment.”
“Secondly, investors will be looking at transparency in the money they are lending. Investors want to know where is our money going and how can we have transparency in terms of what that money has delivered within Africa.” he said.
iBUILD’s chairman Lew Schulman said, “From the day that they imagine a project we will be able to have all that information in a single repository.”
“They will be able to bid those projects out competitively, start those projects and see the activity as it unfolds.”
“They will be able to report on impact on aspects whether it is how many youths were brought in to the construction industry, whether there are enough masons, electricians, plumbers and if there is the right supply chain in place.” he said.
Shelter Afrique is owned by 44 African member governments (Class A shareholders), and by the African Development Bank and Africa-Reinsurance (Class B shareholders).
iBUILD’s business assessment will start in the next few weeks and it will be tailored to suit different market requirements in the continent. Full integration will commence after mutually agreed upon time line.
This signing comes at a time when Shelter Afrique sees that Africa needs more than $1 billion in funding to be able to effectively address the growing housing crisis
Mr Chimpondah said the majority of African countries were already facing housing crisis as a result of high population growth, increased urbanization, poor urban planning, dysfunctional land markets, rising construction costs, the proliferation of informal settlements, and underdeveloped financial systems.
