Pan African housing development financier, Shelter Afrique has approved the development of the Kinyinya Park Estate Project- a 10,000 integrated and sustainable large scale housing project in Kigali. The estate will be developed in partnership with Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). Other partners include Ultimate Developers Limited (UDL), Development Funding Institution (DFI), Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank (TDB), the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) among others. The project is expected to cost approximately $400 million out of which TDB has approved a facility worth US$150 million to Shelter Afrique to support the first two phases of the project. Shelter Afrique Board Chairman Steve Mainda said that the development is part of its 2019-2023 strategic goals, which focus on achieving both development impact on all large-scale housing projects so as to achieve the creation of value for shareholders. “As a board, we are committed to ensuring that the Company achieves its mandate of providing affordable housing across Africa by embracing viable public-private partnerships such as the Kinyinya Park Estate housing project,” Mainda said. Commenting on the development, Shelter Afrique Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chimphondah said that the sizeable housing deficit in Africa could only be addressed by undertaking large-scale housing development projects. “It is the reason our strategy places a premium on Private-Public-Partnerships (PPPs), which we believe are critical to delivering affordable housing. We are also exploring similar projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. We expect to have these projects replicated in most of our member countries going forward,” Chimphondah said. The Kinyinya Park Estate project is Shelter Afrique’s second large-scale housing development project in Rwanda after the Company commissioned 3000 affordable housing units in Rugarama Park Estate in Kigali in June 2019. It has been conceptualised by Shelter Afrique and the EPC contractor to help address the large affordable housing shortage in Rwanda with the development of a sustainable urban mixed-use community. The project will be undertaken in five phases over three to four years, consisting of 10,000 affordable apartments and 200 units of commercial outlets including schools, shops, and business facilities on behalf of RSSB.
