AfDB to increase housing access in African cities with $7m equity investment

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors has approved  a $7 million equity investment in the Pan African Housing Fund (PAHF), a private equity fund targeting the lower-middle and middle-middle class residential housing market in Africa.

This contribution, according to the development bank, will allow the PAHF to help grow the capacity of local developers to deliver housing development projects that address the severe housing shortage and corresponding infrastructure required to keep pace with Africa’s fast-paced urbanization.
The approval was made September 6, 2012, the AfDB said in a statement September 18, 2012.

Commenting, Tim Turner, AfDB’s Private Sector and Microfinance Director, said “This investment is expected to create a total of 5,100 additional single- and multi-family housing units and rentals.”

Citing the UN Habitat data, the Bank noted that Africa currently includes 17 of the world’s 100 fastest growing cities and if the current trend is sustained, it is projected that by 2050 more than half of Africa’s population will be urban. African cities will also host an expected 1.2 billion people, it said.

By Ekow Quandzie