Proparco and the WAEMU CRRH join forces to promote access to affordable housing for low-income populations

The partnership was sealed by Rémy RIOUX, Chief Executive Officer of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group and President of Proparco, and Christian AGOSSA, Chief Executive Officer of CRRH-UEMOA, in the presence of Serge EKUE, President of BOAD. 

This financing is accompanied by a technical support grant of 500,000 euros, intended to strengthen the institution's internal capacities and to support its awareness-raising activities among its clients.  

Access to affordable housing by low-income populations is one of the major development challenges in the WAEMU zone (1). Indeed, the supply of decent housing remains very limited and not very accessible to low-income households. Due to strong demographic growth and accelerated urbanization, the housing deficit in urban areas in the WAEMU zone is estimated at about 1.7 million.

The Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire de l'UEMOA (CRRH-UEMOA), created in 2010 by commercial banks of the WAEMU and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), currently has 62 shareholders, commercial banks and development finance institutions. It plays a decisive role in promoting access to housing in WAEMU countries by providing adapted financial resources, particularly on long maturities and at competitive rates, to the shareholder banks it refinances.

"The issue of access to property and housing in contexts of rapid urbanization, as is the case in West Africa, is central. For AFD Group, this is an essential condition for ensuring sustainable and inclusive urban development. This is why we are particularly pleased to sign today, via our subsidiary Proparco, and alongside Serge Ekué, President of BOAD, this new line of credit and technical assistance to CRRH to promote the financing of affordable housing in the WAEMU zone," declared Rémy RIOUX, Chief Executive Officer of AFD Group and Chairman of Proparco.

Christian AGOSSA, Chief Executive Officer of CRRH-UEMOA, said "CRRH-UEMOA is delighted with this partnership with Proparco which reinforces our interventions in the promotion of affordable housing financing, and for which we have already mobilized FCFA 108 billion since 2016. Proparco's financing, which will be almost disbursed this year, brings our efforts, to date, to CFAF 135 billion or 205 million euros in 05 years."

Serge EKUE, President of BOAD, indicated that "BOAD is pleased with the Proparco/CRH-UEMOA partnership which underscores the unique role played by the CRRH-UEMOA in financing access to real estate in the Union.  Today, I can be pleased with the soundness of the vision shared by the Union's institutions (BCEAO, CREPMF, BOAD and the WAEMU Commission) that prevailed when the CRRH-UEMOA was set up in 2010. Moreover, while the first concessional financing for the CRRH-UEMOA went through BOAD, the CRRH-UEMOA can now contract directly with development financing partners, a sign of its credibility and effectiveness in carrying out its mission, and this is fortunate. 

The French Ambassador to Togo, Mrs. Jocelyne CABALLERO, "is delighted that France is associated with the regional policy of development and structuring of an affordable and responsible housing market in Togo and in other countries of the sub-region. This collaboration highlights the rich partnership between our country and the UEMOA institutions, primarily the CRRH-UEMOA and BOAD".

The project will improve access to home ownership for more than 1,800 middle-class households in WAEMU countries by providing them with long-term financing at competitive rates. The project will also support the creation of more than 9,000 indirect jobs due to the spillover effect of mortgage loans on several economic sectors (construction, financial services, etc.).

It will thus contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 10 (Reducing Inequality) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

(1) WAEMU for West African Economic and Monetary Union (also known by its French acronym, UEMOA) is composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.