The bank is also expected to assist local authorities in project preparation to bankability stage and in the process strengthening the case of obtaining bonds borrowing power certificates from the parent ministry.
THE Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe is targeting to deliver 20000 stands by 2018 as part of efforts to contribute to the national target of 1.25 million stands.
Under ZimAsset, Government is targeting 330 000 housing units by 2018 however it will only deliver 25 000 units with the rest expected to come from other initiatives. The country’s housing backlog is currently estimated at 1.25 million, with the City of Harare alone standing at about 200 000 in 2015.
According to a draft Housing Sector policy which the bank is seeking stakeholder comments for, IDBZ is planning to introduce specific Housing Development bonds for targeted projects with clearly identifiable sources of repayment.
This will entail engaging external institutional investor institutions and development finance institutions (DFIs) such as Afreximbank, Shelter Afrique, PTA Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa and others as a way of augmenting limited domestic resources.
The IDBZ’s Housing Sector Policy aims at providing a framework for the provision of inclusive, safe and sustainable low cost housing through financing of offsite and onsite infrastructure.
“The strategy seeks to contribute towards this national target by delivering around 5 000 serviced stands annually from 2015 to 2018, thus giving a total of 20 000 stands,” read part of the policy.
The bank is also expected to assist local authorities in project preparation to bankability stage and in the process strengthening the case of obtaining bonds borrowing power certificates from the parent ministry.
IDBZ also plans to spearhead the revival of the Municipal Bond for financially strong and disciplined local authorities as a way of complementing the limited budgetary resources set aside for financing bulk infrastructure development and rehabilitation. FinX