BANCABC AND SHELTER AFRIQUE SIGN US$11MILLION HOUSING DEAL

BancABC Zimbabwe, the local banking subsidiary of Pan African Group Atlas Maraand The Company of Habitat and Housing in Africa, also known as Shelter Afrique have today signed a US$7million line of credit for the development of housing. The US$7 million deal is in addition to a US$4 million deal the two parties agreed upon a few weeksago. The two facilities worth US$11 million will fund the construction of 2,500houses for low to middle income earners. Theline of credit has been extended at a time when the Ministry ofHousingandSocial Amenities has moved to reduce thenationalhousing deficit.The housing backlog in Zimbabwe has grown significantly in the last few years, with official figures showing that Zimbabwe has a deficit of around 1,3 million houses. Thedemand for housing in Zimbabwe has risen whilstaccess to housing finance remains limited.The shortage of housing haslargely impacted low to middle income households which has led to therapid sproutingofillegalurban settlements, slums and backyard shacks.Through this agreement,BancABCwill offer mortgagesfor the development ofmuch needed housing developments. BancABC and Shleter Afrique have a history of delivering on developmentalprojects, in 2011, thetwo extended loans worth US$7 million for the construction of 150 houses. In 2015, Shelter Afrique extended US$5 million to BancABC which was used to finance trade activities ofimporters and exporters of building materials and equipment. Mr Kuria Njinu, the Chief Legal Officer of ShelterAfriquewho flew in from Kenya to sign the deal emphasised Shelter Afrique’s goal of assisting in housing and real estate development in Africa. “This credit line will assist in addressing the housing backlog in Zimbabwe, the extension of this facility to BancABC reaffirmsour commitment to providing affordable housingsolutionsfor Africa”, stated Mr Njinu. Speaking atthe occasion,Dr.LanceMambondiani, BancABC CEO said, “We are once again pleased to partner with Shelter Afrique ona project of such magnitude, because of the many lives it will impact.Our Corporate and Investment Banking team has been working onputting this deal together and today we are proud to sign off on it”. Dr. Mambondiani also took the opportunity to congratulate Shelter Afrique on their 40thanniversary. Inthe past 40 yearstheinstitution has approved investments worth USD$1.207 billion and completed over 17,572 projectswith governmentsand banks across Africa