African Partners Directory

CAHF is the housing finance division of FinMark Trust, a non-profit trust, which aims to ‘make financial markets work for the poor’. FinMark Trust began its housing finance work in 2001 and CAHF was established in 2007. The vision of CAHF is an enabled affordable housing finance system in countries throughout Africa, where governments, business, and advocates work together to provide a wide range of housing options accessible to all. CAHF’s mission is to expand Africa’s housing markets for all of its residents, through the dissemination of research and market intelligence, supporting cross-sector collaborations and a market based approach. The overall goal of our work is to see an increase of investment in affordable housing and housing finance throughout Africa: more players and better products, with a specific focus on the poor.

Their work covers four main areas: (1) understanding the housing asset, (2) monitoring housing sector performance, (3) exploring innovation in housing finance, and (4) supporting housing finance market development. CAHF also provides strategic and secretarial support to the African Union for Housing Finance, and is a founding member and driver of the African Housing Microfinance Initiative.

The FinMark Trust is an independent trust whose business is controlled by five trustees from countries in Southern Africa; it also receives funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

CAHF’s main objective is to promote housing finance sector development in Africa. The Centre regularly commissions research studies; host forums; strategy and discussion sessions and workshops. It also participates in local and international conferences and debates on housing finance. As a result, it has become a credible source of information, thought leadership, and point of contact for housing finance practitioners in the public, private and NGO sectors across the African continent.