Housing and Africa’s Growth Agenda | 32nd Annual AUHF Conference and AGM
The African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF), an organisation CAHF works closely with, is an association of 50 mortgage banks, building societies, microfinance institutions, housing corporations and other organisations involved in the mobilisation of funds for shelter and housing on the African continent. This year, the annual AUHF conference will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, 14 – 16 September 2016.
Housing and Africa’s Growth Agenda
32nd Annual AUHF Conference and AGM
14 – 16 September 2016 | Abuja, Nigeria
Affordable housing delivery to meet an ever increasing demand presents a tremendous investment opportunity that can substantially impact on Africa’s growth agenda.
In Nigeria alone, a backlog of an estimated 17 million units suggests that housing construction will be at the forefront of that country’s economy for some time. Already, Nigeria’s real estate sector is one of the main, non-oil sector contributors to the country’s rebased GDP, contributing 11 percent by 2014. Given the projected demand, it is estimated that the N6.5 trillion market will grow at an average of ten percent over the next few years. Of course, affordability remains a key constraint, combined with a host of other issues concerning land, cost of funds and the overall enabling environment. Despite these, the opportunities for significant returns on housing investment, while also meeting a fundamental social need, are tremendous. At Nigeria’s current mortgage rates, a simple $20,000 house could be affordable to about 16% of the urban population, or about 3 million urban households.
Bring the house price down to $15,000 and an estimated 35% of Nigeria’s urban population could afford to buy housing with a mortgage – this is in the region of 6.6 million households, and could create $99 trillion in investment and upwards of 4 million jobs. What are the opportunities and how might these be captured to support Africa’s growth agenda going forward? This is the focus of this year’s annual conference of the African Union for Housing Finance.
Taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, from 14-16 September, the conference is structured around key themes ranging from the potential of public-private partnerships to unlocking hidden potentials, to the challenges of funding the mortgage portfolio, the opportunities to be found in rental housing and housing microfinance, and the strategies to address the challenge of affordability. With an agenda structured around presentations in plenary and panel discussions, as well as a housing marketplace to support focused conversations between investors and projects, the conference will attract stakeholders from across the continent, all with the express purpose of furthering investment in affordable housing.
Key Sessions:
- Session 1: Public-private partnerships to enable affordable housing
- Session 2: Funding the mortgage portfolio
- Session 3: Finding returns in the affordable housing market
- Session 4: Promoting sustainable growth
- Session 5: The challenge of affordability
- Session 6: Housing microfinance: A solution to affordable housing
- Session 7: Rental housing in Africa
The 32nd Annual Conference of the African Union for Housing Finance offers stakeholders a platform for discussing and sharing experiences, and deliberating towards innovative interventions to support the growth of Africa’s economies through the development of a vibrant housing sector. Offered by an industry body with an explicit mandate to support the growth of Africa’s housing finance sector, the conference will realise actionable recommendations that will transform the housing landscape and create new opportunities across the continent.
If you are interested in participating as a speaker, sponsor or delegate kindly email celeste@fizzmarketing.co.za. Regular updates will be sent out on the AUHF and CAHF mailing lists, including information on the programme, speakers and how to register. In the meantime, please add the conference dates to your calendar.