Investors urged to take up housing financing opportunities in Africa

NAIROBI, Financing of affordable houses in Africa's urban areas is one of the biggest opportunities for investors because of the ballooning population and high demand, head of an African housing financier has said.
Andrew Chimphondah, CEO of Shelter Afrique told Xinhua that Africa is urbanizing at rates the region has never experienced before, thus making the delivery of quality affordable housing a mammoth challenge.
"With African cities estimated to add over 40,000 people every day, this has pushed the current housing deficits in Africa to more than 56 million housing units," Chimphondah told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, over 60 percent of the urban population are estimated to live in areas categorized as slums and informal settlements and therefore need improvement to better housing units, according to Chimphondah.
He said investors from across the world should take advantage of the shortage of financing in Africa to cover the gap and benefit from the high demand for affordable housing across the continent.
                                                                                                                                                      ----- From XinHua Net