Ghana Home Loans secures $10m facility from German DEG to address housing gap

Mortgage company, Ghana Home Loans (GHL) has secured a $10 million senior loan from Deutsche Investitions- und  EntwicklungsgesellschaftmbH (DEG), a German finance institution to provide mortgage financing to Ghanaians.

An agreement to seal the transaction was signed Friday October 12, 2012 in Accra.

According to DEG, the loan will contribute to the growth of GHL’s origination capacity and increase access to mortgage financing for individuals and households in Ghana.

“This $10 million facility should lead to over 300 households and potentially 1,500 people being proud owners of their homes. We look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship in solving the housing problems that beset the many decent and hardworking people of Ghana,” said Dominic Adu, CEO of GHL.

Commenting, Andreas Voss, DEG’s Regional Director, said, “A key goal in Ghana’s policy-making is to encourage the growth of the formal private sector to mobilize capital for development and increase of housing stock. The lack of adequate mortgage financing has created gaps in the housing sector in Ghana.”

According to him, GHL estimates that the potential mortgage demand based on households without homes, but can afford to acquire one, is close to $2 billion, he therefore believes that DEG’s financing will contribute to meeting this demand gap.

Ghana is reported to have a housing deficit of about 1.6 million, even though there is high demand for houses by individuals in the country.

President John Dramani Mahama has been cited elsewhere in 2011 as saying that approximately 60% of Ghana’s national requirement in terms of housing remains unsatisfied.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi