Looking past where the light is shining: building the information infrastructure for affordable housing in Africa

Data is critical in the development of any sector. It informs policy decisions by government as well as investment decisions made by private sector participants including funders and developers.  In Africa’s affordable housing sector, it is sorely lacking.

Over the past 10 years, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa has been developing tools that are slowly building the information infrastructure to support investment in affordable housing across Africa.  From our flagship publication, the Housing Finance Yearbook, through to our most recent efforts to champion an Open Access Initiative, CAHF has collected, curated, analysed, presented and shared data and market analyses in interesting ways, championing the critical need for thoughtful and well-informed responses to housing challenges.

CAHF has pursued its Data Agenda for Africa in partnership with Reall, 71point4, FSD Kenya, FSD Africa Investments, the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company and others.  At the World Urban Forum held in Cairo, Egypt in November 2024, we showcased the various tools, products and other resources that CAHF and its partners have developed to support the information infrastructure for affordable housing in Africa, from experience to collection, to analysis, to presentation, to dissemination, to adoption.