The MOU will allow Shelter Afrique and BOA Group to work closely in Africa in general and in particular in countries where BOA is established to deliver construction and mortgage financing to developers and homebuyers respectively, with a view to meeting the ever increasing demand for affordable housing in Africa  It will also enable the two pan African institutions to pool resources, co-finance projects and cooperate in the development of the capital markets in Africa, amongst other things.
Shelter-Afrique is a regional housing finance and development institution involved in financing housing and related infrastructure development in Africa. It currently has projects in about 25 African countries and has the capacity to fund large scale projects directly from its own resources or through syndication with its strategic partners. Shelter-Afrique, which is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya has 42 countries, African Development Bank and African Reinsurance Corporation as its shareholders.

BANK OF AFRICA Group operates in 6 west African countries (Bénin, Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Senegal), in 5 countries of the East-Africa and Indian Ocean region (Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda) as well as in France, through a network of 11 commercial banks, 1 housing finance bank, 3 leasing companies, 1 brokerage firm and several other financial institutions.  The Group, incorporated in Mali in 1982, presently has a total workforce of 2900 people, shows as at 30.06.09 a consolidated balance sheet of USD 3,3 billion and, registered for the first 6 months of 2009, a consolidated net profit of USD 41,3 million.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique noted that the event marked the formalization and elevation of the existing relationship between BOA Group and Shelter Afrique to a strategic level in order to deliver value to our customers. He thanked BOA, which is one of the fastest growing regional banking groups, for its support to Shelter Afrique’s resource mobilization and called for greater collaboration between the two institutions in the area of co-financing and equity investments in real estate development in Africa.

The President the BANK OF AFRICA Group, Mr. Derreumaux, noted that BOA is already well established in many west and east African countries who are members of Shelter Afrique and which would be direct beneficiaries of the MOU. Mr. Derreumaux insisted that the development of housing finance throughout Africa is very necessary and will have an enormous impact on several fronts: socially, housing responds to a fundamental human right; economically, housing is very labour intensive and creates jobs; politically, housing helps people to settle and be more caring about their future.  BANK OF AFRICA sees housing finance as a strategic venue for its growth, as it responds to a strategic need of the continent.

Nairobi January 2010

For more information, contact Mazi Ositadinma Okonkwo, Deputy managing Director, Shelter Afrique Ositadinma@shelterafrique.org Tel +254-2720153 or Stéphane Carrer, Company Secretary of BoA Group-  scarrer@boaholding.com  tel. :+223-20 29 48 27