When most people think about Africa’s cities they name capitals — Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Lilongwe, Kigali and Abuja. There’s good reason. Projections show Africa will have the world’s fastest growing cities over the next 30 years.
Young Poles who have aged out of the foster care find their home in seven newly renovated studios. Michal says he has never felt more grounded and is finishing his studies in history.
Read news about Habitat’s work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as current housing issues and innovations in housing markets.
Julia is a survivor. She is HIV positive and has lost her husband and a son. But, against the odds, she has re-built her life with the support of Habitat for Humanity.
Read more stories about the impact of decent housing on people’s lives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Little did Stephen know that when he signed up for the Habitat financial literacy course in 2009 that he and his family’s lives would change so dramatically.
Valbona Xhafa, regional manager at Fondi BESA, emphasizes the deep cultural value placed on homeownership in Albania: “We Albanians are very sensitive about our houses. We all want to [own] houses. That’s what it means to live well.”
This widespread desire for better living conditions drove Fondi BESA to introduce a new housing loan product in 2021, backed by an investment from MicroBuild. The initial rollout of this product faced challenges, as Alma notes: “We’d had the product for more than a year, but we were hardly disbursing any housing loans.”
Housing microfinance “is all about being small scale, affordable and lending responsibly. And it is working,” writes Habitat’s Kevin Chetty for the online site Place.