The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and CITIC, a Chinese global construction and engineering corporation, have formed a $300 million investment platform, CITIC Construction (Africa) Holding Limited, to deliver affordable housing in some African countries.
Over the next five years, the platform will collaborate with developers and provide long-term finance to build 30,000 houses.
According to IFC, each housing unit will generate 150,000 new jobs on the continent.
The IFC-CITIC Construction platform pledged to collaborate with local housing enterprises to create affordable housing projects ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 units across Sub-Saharan Africa.
CITIC Construction has a track record of successfully constructing and executing large-scale housing projects. It will begin by building houses in Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda before extending to other nations.
Chairperson, CITIC Construction, Hong Bo, said: “In Angola, through planning, financing, construction and post-construction, CITIC Construction has completed the 200,000 units housing programme, new city of Kilamba Kiaxi, with relative infrastructure and utilities in four years. CITIC Construction has also founded the CITIC BN Vocational School in Angola, which helps youths acquire the skills they need to become professionals. CITIC Construction will take advantage of our engineering experience and delivery capability to develop more affordable houses for Africa through the platform with IFC.”
IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Oumar Seydi, added: “As Sub-Saharan Africa becomes more urbanised, the private sector can help governments meet the critical need for housing. The platform will help transform Africa’s housing markets by providing high quality, affordable homes, creating jobs, and demonstrating the viability of the sector to local developers.
Furthermore, he said IFC will work with financial institutions to support mortgages and housing finance that will allow people to purchase the units.
“The new housing units will be constructed in accordance to IFC’s green building standards, delivering homes that are environmentally friendly and sustainable.”
To date, IFC has invested over $3 billion in housing finance in over 46 countries. It focuses on regions where many people live in sub-standard housing and have limited access to credit to build, expand, or renovate their homes.
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