The Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Eng Charles L. Milupi M.P has welcomed the transformation of Shelter Afrique into a Pan African Housing Development Bank. This Minister this on the sidelines of the recently held Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in Algiers, Algeria.
The main focus of the EGM was to endorse the revised statutes of Shelter Afrique and transform it into a Development Bank for Sustainable Housing and Urban Development in Africa, as agreed during the 42nd Annual General Meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria in May 2023.
The Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary Prof. Albert Malama accompanied by the Ministry’s Director of Housing and Urban Development Mr. Mabuchi Chilembo.
Hon. Milupi emphasized on the importance of this change in that it will reposition the institution into a fully-fledged Housing development bank which will better serve the member states in their effort to develop housing for their citizens. The Minister has also announced that Zambia has been given the right to hold the 2026 Shelter Afrique Annual General Meeting, after Rwanda and Algeria in 2024 and 2025 respectively. He has further expressed optimism that the new institution will accede to the quest by Zambia to host the Southern Africa office which was endorsed in past resolutions.
Zambia is among the forty-four (44) African member countries, alongside the African Development Bank (AFDB) and Africa Re-Assurance Corporation who also hold shares in the institution. Being a share holder of the institution, Zambia will have the privilege to access requisite funds that shall help to deal with the ever-increasing housing deficit which currently stands at over 1.5 million and is expected to increase to over 3.3 million by 2030.
Shelter Afrique has worked before in Zambia with National Housing Authority and Zambia Homes loans, among others by providing financing for the development of housing. It is the only pan-African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of housing and urban development in Africa. It also builds strategic partnerships and offers a host of products and related services to support the efficient delivery of affordable housing and commercial real estate which impacts positively on the lives of many by meeting the needs of the continent’s rapidly growing urban population.
