About 90 000 houses are to be built for needy South Africans thanks to a R200-million deal between the National Reconstruction and Housing Agency (Nurcha) and an American investment company, Nurcha said on Monday.
The money, made available by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic), would be used by Nurcha to underwrite the loans of emerging housing developers and contractors borrowing money from partner banks and micro-financing organisations.
Some of the money would also be used for loans for low-income home owners. Nurcha would furthermore assist contractors with financial management. ”Opic’s guarantee could provide shelter for up to half-a-million people,” Nurcha executive director Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube said in the statement.
”It will also provide a significant boost for small, historically disadvantaged builders across South Africa.”
The Opic is a United States government-owned investment company. Nurcha is a non-profit housing funding agency set up by the South African government to mobilise funds for low-income housing projects. To date, 106 000 houses have been financed through Nurcha guarantees and loans, the statement said.
Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele described the deal as a landmark transaction.
”… it sets in train a process whereby foreign funding for low-cost housing will become a welcome reality in the years ahead.” – Sapa