The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe intends to raise a $100 million bond for housing development. IDBZ has acquired “sizeable” pieces of land in Harare and has been granted the necessary approvals by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to issue tax free debt instruments to raise funding.
The IDBZ intends to raise US$100 million through the issuance of Housing Development Bills and Bonds to finance working capital and capital expenditure requirements towards this initiative. To ensure that the proposed instruments receive the desired support from local and foreign investors, the bank is also approaching regional development finance institutions such as PTA Bank, Afreximbank and African Development Bank to seek support for this initiative through co-financing and credit enhancement arrangements. The projects will provide housing for the low to middle income groups. Subject to additional land available, the bank also plans to implement similar projects in other cities countrywide.
Zimbabwe is faced with a significant housing backlog. The housing shortage is estimated at 1.25 million units which translate to a national backlog of 5 million citizens or more than 40 percent of total population. Housing finance schemes which are currently available have little incremental effect on the national housing stock as these are either exclusively packaged for a few targeted groups or are priced beyond the reach of the poor. Under Zim-Asset, the Government intends to reduce housing backlog through the provision of serviced land, strengthen public private partnerships and adoption of new building technology.