Shelter Afrique shrugging off woes, launches project in Rwanda

Close up of plans and digital tablet on building site.

Shelter Afrique has continued its charm offesive as it seeks to leave behind the woes that bedevilled the lender in the recent past.

This week, the lender and the Development Bank of Rwanda kicked-off the development of 2,000 affordable housing units in Rwanda at an estimated cost of cost $131 million (Sh13.1 billion).

The housing units developed by Rugarama Park Estate, a joint venture between Shelter Afrique and the Bank, are in accordance with the City of Kigali masterplan and the country’s affordable housing programme.

Like Kenya, the Government of Rwanda has put affordable housing as one of its priorities.

The country targets to have 35 per cent of urbanisation by 2024 from 18.4 per cent in 2017, the move that will need more dwelling units. Housing experts, however, say that due to different challenges, the country has not even managed to satisfy 10 per cent of affordable housing needs.

The project plans to build about 2,800 affordable houses on 42 hectares.

“We at Shelter Afrique believe that housing should be accessible, it should be affordable, and homeownership is a decision that should be made at the sunrise of your life, not at its sunset. This is the promise of Rugarama, but more so the promise of Shelter Afrique, it is why we were created in the first place,” said Shelter Afrique Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chimphondah

“The project is demonstrative of the guiding principles of Shelter Afrique over the last couple of years. Our 2019-2023 strategy promotes the development of large-scale developments of nothing less than 1000 units, Rugarama ticks that box,” Chimphondah said.

Shelter Afrique is a pan-African finance institution that supports the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa.

The company is owned by 44 African Governments, the African Development Bank and the Africa Reinsurance Company.