By VINCENT OWINO

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Zimbabwe will be hosting pan African housing financier, Shelter Afrique’s 41^st Annual General Meeting, in which the current president of the AGM Bureau is expected to hand over to Zimbabwe’s Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities.

The Shelter Afrique’s CEO Andrew Chimphondah and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Housing and Social Amenities, Daniel Garwe, signed the host agreement in Harare last week, setting in motion preparations for the conference, which will be held in Victoria Falls, a town in western Zimbabwe, from July 25 to 30 this year.

During the meeting, Cameroon’s minister for housing and urban development, Célestine Ketcha Courtès, who currently presides over the general meeting, will hand over to her Zimbabwean counterpart, Mr Garwe. Ms Courtès took over from Kenya’s cabinet secretary for housing James Macharia, last year.

Speaking during the signing of the host agreement, Mr Garwe said “Shelter Afrique held its 36th AGM in Victoria Falls and their return after 5 years for the 41st AGM demonstrates the renewed interest in Zimbabwe, providing a window of opportunity for the government to leverage on in shaping the narrative towards robust human settlement delivery strategies.”

The Zimbabwean government will be expected to provide hosting facilities and transport for designated officials and equipment required during the conference.

Mr Garwe remarked that the meeting will have many economic returns to the country, including regional integration, tourism, and business linkages.

Cameroon benefited from a historic $15 million investment in prefab building factory by Shelter Afrique during Ms Courtès’ term as the general meeting’s president last year, contributing to the solutions for the problems facing provision of affordable housing in the country.

Shelter Afrique is owned by 44 African countries and three development institutions—African Development Bank, African Reinsurance Corporation and the latest entrant, the African Solidarity Fund, known by its French name Fonds de Solidarite Africain (FSA).

Zimbabwe joined the institution in 1993, and since then the organisation has invested $58.2 million in the country through nine separate facilities.