On 14 October, AFI and Habitat for Humanity International organized a masterclass on inclusive housing finance in Zanzibar, Tanzania, as a side event during the African Union for Housing Finance’s annual conference. 

The masterclass, led by Professor Marja Hoek-Smit and attended by staff of AFI members from Egypt, Suriname, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, explored the complexity and workings of housing markets, including products, risks and risk management systems. The aim was to help participants identify how regulators and supervisors can expand inclusive housing finance by the banking sector, mortgage companies, savings and loan institutions and micro-lenders, in a safe manner. 

“Professor Hoek-Smit’s insights on intergenerational wealth building were particularly striking”, said Khaled Bassiouny, General Manager of Central Bank of Egypt’s Financial Inclusion Department. “Providing young people with access to housing finance isn’t just about their financial future; it’s about giving them a stake in society.  When young people, especially young women, own homes, they invest in their communities and contribute to long-term economic stability. This is a legacy we, as central bankers, can help create.” 

Recently, at the 2024 AFI Global Policy Forum in San Salvador, AFI and Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter (TCIS) announced that they would work together to identify how the enabling regulatory environment for inclusive, affordable, sustainable housing finance can be improved, and to support AFI members in developing and implementing effective policies. 

You can learn more about this topic in a new AFI publication, produced in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity: Fostering Inclusive, Affordable and Sustainable Housing Finance (IASHF) Innovation.