Quality and affordable housing – a key to a strong and secure nation

Michelline NawatisesThe National Housing Enterprise and Shelter Afrique signed a memorandum of understanding on 30 April at the headquarters of NHE in Eros, Windhoek.Shelter Afrique is a pan-African institution with a vision to deliver affordable homes to people in Africa. The managing director of Shelter Afrique, Andrew Chimphondah, says this is done through public-private partnerships because they believe that is the only way they can achieve development impact.Chimpondah says their relationship with the NHE started in 2003 when they provided a line of credit of about US$7 million. “We have a long-standing relationship and this partnership that we are signing today was long overdue because we have chosen NHE as our entry vehicle into assisting the Namibian government, particularly the ministry of urban and rural development, with delivering on their mandate of housing,” he said.He added that they believe the Harambee Prosperity Plan target of 20 000 units within fours years is achievable. The partnership would allow the NHE the flexibility to support the achievement of this target. “We will start that by processing a line of credit of 10 million US dollars (approximately N$144 million)” he said.The CEO of the NHE, Gisbertus Mukulu, said the signing of the agreement brought the state-owned enterprise a step closer to making this a reality. “The Namibian housing situation is attributed to the scarcity of available land, which pushes up the price of serviced land, which slows down the process of housing delivery and is thus the main challenge facing the housing sector. “NHE’s mandate is to provide affordable and quality housing to our people, and even through tough economic times, we are still able to deliver on our mandate,” he said.He added that combined efforts make a difference and the NHE was looking forward to working with Shelter Afrique in finding solutions to the delivery of housing. “Let us, therefore, pull together as stakeholders in the housing sector, let's re-dedicate ourselves as government and the private sector to continue to work towards our developmental objectives and the goal of creating a Namibian House where no one will feel left out,” he concluded.

Quality and affordable housing – a key to a strong and secure nation

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-23

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Quality and affordable housing – a key to a strong and secure nation

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-23

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