{"id":2000115290,"date":"2026-06-10T15:23:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000115290"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:23:21","slug":"shelter-afrique-rebrands-as-it-steps-up-efforts-to-close-africas-53-million-housing-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/shelter-afrique-rebrands-as-it-steps-up-efforts-to-close-africas-53-million-housing-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelter Afrique rebrands as it steps up efforts to close Africa\u2019s 53 million housing gap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The new brand was officially launched in Rabat, Morocco, during the bank\u2019s 45th Annual Meetings, marking a major milestone in the institution\u2019s evolution and long-term strategic repositioning within Africa\u2019s development finance landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the unveiling, Thierno-Habib Hann, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shelter Afrique Development Bank, said the rebranding represents far more than a cosmetic change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRebranding means more than a name change. It is not only changing the institution\u2019s framework of operations. The transition is expanding the role of the institution into a development bank, making it more nimble and impactful across the housing value chain while creating jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank has in recent years pursued a deliberate strategy to expand its financing capacity in response to rising demand for affordable housing and urban infrastructure across the continent. With a membership of 44 African states and institutional shareholders including the African Development Bank and the African Reinsurance Corporation, Shelter Afrique says it is increasingly aligning its operations with Africa\u2019s broader development priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board Chairman Lionel Zinsou said the institution\u2019s success will be measured by its tangible impact rather than policy declarations or strategic plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur success will not ultimately be measured by strategies adopted, policies approved or meetings held. It will be measured by homes financed, cities improved, jobs created and lives transformed. The reform phase of the institution must now become the delivery phase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition to a Multilateral Development Bank is expected to place Shelter Afrique in the same category as other pan-African lenders, strengthening its ability to mobilise capital for large-scale housing and urban development projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The institution is now targeting Africa\u2019s estimated 53 million housing deficit, which requires approximately $1.3 trillion in investment to address, according to the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hann said the next phase of the bank\u2019s strategy will focus on scaling impact across the housing ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur vision for the next five years and beyond is to lead the transformation of the African housing sector to address urban infrastructure challenges and create jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rebranding also comes amid increased collaboration among African multilateral development banks aimed at unlocking greater pools of capital for infrastructure and housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Annual General Meeting was held under the theme: \u201cThe Future of Cities: Financing Inclusive, Green, and Resilient Urban Development,\u201d reflecting the growing urgency around sustainable urbanisation across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1981 in Lusaka, Zambia and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Shelter Afrique Development Bank is a Pan-African MDB dedicated to financing sustainable housing, urban development, and related infrastructure. It is owned by 44 African governments alongside institutional shareholders including the African Development Bank and Africa-Re.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The institution, of which Rwanda is a member, operates through four business lines: the Financial Institutions Group (FIG), the Project Finance Group (PFG), the Sovereign and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Group, and the Fund Management Group (FMG).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speaking at the unveiling, Thierno-Habib Hann, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shelter Afrique Development Bank, said the rebranding represents far more than a cosmetic change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The new brand was officially launched in Rabat, Morocco, during the bank\u2019s 45th Annual Meetings, marking a major milestone in the institution\u2019s evolution and long-term strategic repositioning within Africa\u2019s development finance landscape.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The rebranding also comes amid increased collaboration among African multilateral development banks aimed at unlocking greater pools of capital for infrastructure and housing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB) has unveiled its new brand identity as it accelerates its transition into a fully-fledged Multilateral Development Bank (MDB), positioning itself to play a larger role in addressing Africa\u2019s estimated 53 million housing deficit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000115291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000115290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000115291,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1536,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1-1024x683.jpg","width":1024,"height":683},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/ShafDB-CEO-Thierno-Habib-2048x1365-1-1536x1024-1.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000115290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000115290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000115290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000115298,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000115290\/revisions\/2000115298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000115291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000115290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000115290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000115290"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000115290"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000115290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}