Abuja – African Ministers of Housing and Urban Development, Shelter Afrique Shareholders and professional bodies in the building industry will converge on Abuja for the 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Symposium of Shelter Afrique.
This is contained in a statement signed on Sunday in Abuja by Mrs Eno Olotu, Assistant Director of Information, on behalf of the Director of Information of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
The statement said the meeting would dwell on innovative strategies toward sustainable housing delivery in Africa.
It said the meeting would hold between May 30 and June 4, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, with the theme: “Housing Africa’s Low Income Urban Population”.
It said the meeting was expected to offer an opportunity to attract additional investments in housing and infrastructure development.
The statement said the meeting would also build a network of partnership with member countries and international institutions for sustainable housing delivery and urban improvement.
“At the meeting, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, will assume the Chairmanship of the Bureau of the organisation for the next one year by virtue of Nigeria hosting this year’s AGM.
“The AGM and Symposium is an annual meeting rotated among the organisation’s 44 Africa member countries,” the statement said.
It said that the organisation focused on mobilising and deploying financial and technical resources through direct investment in housing, loans, lines of credit and technical assistance to member governments, their institutions and the private sector.
It also said that the AGM would avail shareholders with the privileges of discussing key issues that concerned its operational and financial activities in order to enhance service delivery in housing and urban development sector.
The statement said that the Symposium would feature discussions on how to explore and introduce participants to current approaches and innovations in planning and designing affordable housing for urban low income earners.
It said the symposium would also showcase a range of construction methodologies for implementing affordable housing and explore financing options and structures for low uncompetitive housing projects.
It said Nigeria was one of the highest shareholders of the organisation which had occupied a permanent seat on the Board of Directors.
“It is also host to its regional office situated in Abuja.
“State Governments and the private sector developers in Nigeria have benefited from the organisation’s credit facilities over the years.
“The 35th AGM and Symposium will open the vista for more Nigerian housing investors to access its credit facilities,’’it said.
The statement said the symposium would feature a list of international expert panelists which include, Joe Muturi, Co-ordinator, Slum Dwellers International, East and West Africa and Madam Anna Tibaijuka, Former Executive Director, UN Habitat.
“Others are: Prof. Olumide Okusanya, Professor of Architecture, University of Lagos, Olivia Cadwell, Affordable Housing Institute, Boston, USA, and a host of other speakers.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shelter Afrique is a Pan-African development finance institution established in 1982 by African governments and is exclusively dedicated to support housing finance in Africa.
NAN also reports that the African Development Bank and the African Reinsurance Company are also corporate partners of Shelter Afrique. (NAN)
