March was a pivotal month to acknowledge the social, economic, and political contributions of women, while working towards a future where women have equal opportunities and can thrive. Each year, on the 8th of March, the world commemorates International Women’s Day to renew our collective commitment to achieving gender equality by 2030. The United Nations estimates a substantial investment of US$ 360 billion is required annually to meet this goal which necessitates urgent interventions by all stakeholders.[1] The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” and calls for joint action in 5 key areas: investing in women as a cornerstone for building inclusive societies; ending poverty; Implementing gender-responsive financing and shifting to a green economy and a care society. There is a strong argument for investing in affordable housing for women, which has the potential for creating a ripple effect that advances gender equality across all aspects of life.
Across the African continent, countries are faced with growing housing deficits and affordable housing crisis. Coupled with rapid urbanisation, housing needs and tenure insecurity are aggravated. With most employment in Africa being informal or seasonal[2], access to formal housing finance for a significant proportion of low-income households is constrained. However, these constraints are particularly acute for women. Women are more likely to be informally employed, to earn less income and to be constrained by social norms or legal frameworks which limit their ownership and inheritance rights.
In commemoration of women’s month, the African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) hosted a webinar sharing the experiences of women driving change in Africa’s housing sector and exploring how the sector can advance in investing in women. The panel included Mrs. May Abdel Hamid Ahmed Elsayed (CEO Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, Director of AUHF); Mrs. Mildred Mutesa (Managing Director Zambia National Building Society, Vice Chair of AUHF); Ms. Esther Nasenya Segero (President of Kenya’s Women in Real Estate); Mr. Papa Ameth Keita (Coordinator, urbaSEN) and Ms. Bénédicte Hinschberger (Project Manager, Urbamonde).
Advocacy plays a fundamental and multi-faceted role in raising awareness, influencing policy and empowering women. The webinar served as a platform to raise awareness and foster a more inclusive conversation around housing policy and design. In Egypt, Mrs Abdel Hamid led the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund (SHMFF)’s efforts to introduce measures that contribute to a more gender responsive “Housing for All” programme.[3] While the application procedures and criteria were typically gender-neutral, it was discovered that either very few women applied, or that applications were made in the name of their husbands or male relatives. In response, SHMFF revised the programme’s eligibility criteria with the objective of providing women with equal opportunities to own homes either independently or jointly. Critically, SHMFF played an important lobbying and advocacy role by engaging with the Central Bank of Egypt and Egypt’s Ministry of Finance to provide low interest rate loans and introduce unified eligibility criteria[4] among a range of other interventions to promote access to housing finance for low-income households. The recognition that women are a distinct and specific part of the population that have particular needs and challenges is a key takeaway from SHMFF’s experience in Egypt.
In Senegal, urbaSen (a local non-governmental organisation) and UrbaMonde support the Senegalese Federation of Inhabitants (FSH) – a federation of savings groups made up mostly of vulnerable and unbanked women who save together through a revolving fund to make improvements to their homes. This initiative showcases the vast potential and complexity of multi-stakeholder collaboration in empowering women to actively participate in improving their housing circumstances and supply housing. UrbaSen and FSH assist women to make savings and take out loans from FSH’s revolving fund to implement improvement work to homes, sanitation infrastructure and public spaces. UrbaMonde provides urbaSen with technical support in the management and administration of the revolving fund while promoting the initiative internationally. International donors contribute to and financially support the revolving fund while the project is part of Senegalese government’s 100 000 Homes Programme. Ensuring the initiative’s success requires FSH, urbaSen and UrbaMonde to lobby for financial and technical support from the public and private sectors, and international donors.
Embracing gender diversity in the workforce has significant advantages for all sectors including housing and construction. Women in leadership positions are driving empowerment by building inclusive workspaces and inspiring others. In Zambia, Mrs. Mutesa led ZNBS’s launch of the Women in Leadership Mentorship Program called “Transform Her” – designed to encourage and support the growth of women employees in the institution through mentorship, sponsorship, and personalized coaching. Mrs Abdel Hamid mentioned that SMHFF has also led efforts to improve the number of females employees, with the percentage of females occupying positions in SHMFF increasing to 42% of the total number of employees in 2024.
Women’s industry associations offer a multitude of benefits for both women in the field and the industry as a whole. In Kenya, Women in Real Estate (WIRE) is a professional and industry networking association that aims to “equip, encourage, link and empower women real estate professionals.” Through a variety of capacity building and mentorship programs, WIRE strives to encourage women to participate in Kenya’s housing sector. In addition, WIRE conduct industry research with the aim of collecting data that supports their efforts to lobby the public and private sectors.
The webinar highlighted several important conversations already underway. Securing women’s access to housing finance, and to security of tenure, assists to lift women out of poverty, and to improve livelihoods, and housing conditions for all people.
SOURCE: HOUSINGFINANCEAFRICA.ORG
