NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 – Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, wants Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB) and UN-Habitat to collaborate to tackle the housing crisis in Africa.
Dangiwa, who doubles as the Chair of the Executive Board of UN Habitat and the Chair of the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) Bureau of the ShafDB, believes the move would be critical in addressing Africa’s pressing housing challenges.
He also highlighted that the effectiveness of long-term housing crisis management on the continent will depend on such collaborations.
“As the chair of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) bureau of Shelter Afrique Development Bank and also the chair of the executive board of the United Nations Human Settlement programme I’m committed to fostering strategic collaboration between these two institutions,” Dangiwa said.
“This is because I believe that the partnership between ShafDB and UN-Habitat would represent a powerful alliance for addressing the housing deficit and promoting sustainable development across Africa,” he added.
“By leveraging our respective strengths, expertise, resources and abilities to leverage concessional funding from DFI’s, we can through this partnership increase the size of our interventions and amplify impact and accelerate progress towards our shared goals of affordable housing for all.”
ShafDB Managing Director Thierno Habib Hann said that by joining forces, the two institutions will pull together their strengths to implement innovative solutions and initiatives tailored to Africa’s diverse housing landscape.
“There are various areas where ShafDB and UN-Habitat can collaborate including financing, research, data exchange, capacity building, policy development, and even community participation. The best part is that both organizations are based right here in Nairobi and understands Africa’s housing challenges pretty well,” Hann stated.
Growing Deficit
Dangiwa noted that Africa is experiencing fast urbanization and population growth, which has increased demand for affordable and environmentally friendly housing to critical levels.
“With close to 52 million people lacking adequate housing, Africa is facing a pressing humanitarian concern with profound socioeconomic implications. It is therefore critical that Shelter Afrique act as catalyst for change to bridge this housing gap and ensure access to affordable housing for all as a matter of urgency,” Dangiwa stated.
ShafDB is a pan-African multilateral development finance institution financing and promoting housing, urban, and related infrastructure development across the African continent.
UN-Habitat, on the other hand, is a United Nations’ program dedicated to sustainable urban development.
By Feddy Mwende
