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Minister Kasukuwere

Business Reporter
Shelter Afrique was this year hit by a liquidity crunch, forcing the financial institution to call for capital from shareholders. Shelter Afrique is the only pan-African financial institution that exclusively supports the development of housing and real estate sector in Africa. To date, 40 pledges have been made and redeemed. The financial institution subsists primarily on subscriptions from member states or shareholders and the moment the blood stream is blocked, the company’s existence is jeopardised.

Local Government, Rural Development and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who is also chairman for the Shelter Afrique, told the financial institution’s extraordinary general meeting held from October 31 to November 02, 2017, in Rabat, Morocco, that member states make pledges but sometimes are reluctant to honour them. He said it is still a long way for the bank to reach a strong financial position due to reluctance by shareholders and member states to honour their pledges.

“We make commitments as member countries but at times we seem reluctant to honour our pledges. Our failure to honour those calls for subscriptions is as bad as sending troops for battle without ammunition. It is therefore clear that we have an obligation, as shareholders, to pay our dues to Shelter Afrique and in turn demand results from the management and the board.  We are here to address the challenges that have bedevilled the organisation within the last year, we are all aware of the liquidity crisis that precipitated the call for capital in January, to which most of us committed. I am happy to note that the financial institution has successfully redeemed about 40 percent of those pledges,” said Minister Kasukuwere.

Shelter Afrique’s second extraordinary general meeting (EGM) comes hard on the heels of the successful 36th AGM and symposium which was held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. At the 36th AGM shareholders agreed that there was an urgent need for a second extra ordinary general meeting to deliberate, among other things, the company’s strategic plan that will guide its future operations. Shelter Afrique has been operating without a strategic plan, a void which has to be filled courtesy of the EGM.

“It is common cause that with a plan of this nature, we are able to attract investments from potential investors and as such a focused bankable document restores investor confidence in that it details how the company will be run in the short to medium term, as well as elucidating the mission and vision of the same.

“Even the shareholders need to invest where there is direction and purpose in life. It becomes a tall order to convince our governments to invest where the future looks bleak,” said Minister Kasukuwere.

He implored all shareholders and member states to pay their arrears or any other outstanding commitments. In as much as Shelter Afrique wants a strategic and turnaround plan, if it is not backstopped by financial support, it will be another document for the archives, effectively plunging the company into redundancy.