Housing Microfinance Working Group

This afternoon I was honoured to be able to give a presentation at a workship organized by the Housing Microfinance Working Group Tanzania. The theme was: An Introduction to Housing Microfinance and the workshop was  well-attended.  Among the attendees were various financial service providers and stakeholders from the housing sector. Also in attendance was a delegation from microfinance institutions in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania that was led by Stromme Microfinance East Africa. They were in Dar es Salaam for a field visit to the MAKAZI BORA housing microfinance program that coincided with the workshop.

Following a keynote speach from the Ministry of Land, Housing and Human Settlments' Deputy Director for Housing Finance, the Working Group introduced its member institutions and its purpose and objectives. It then gave brief presentations on What is Housing Microfinance, Housing Microfinance Models in Tanzania and Opportunities and Challenges in Housing Microfinance. It was an exciting event for the Working Group, which is a network of institutions engaging in housing microfinance or housing microfinance-related services in Tanzania. Member institutions contributed to cover the cost of holding the event.

Within the working group, institutions have widely varied means of approaching housing microfinance. There are significant ideological divides over issues such as the role of land, the role of planning and regulations, housing support services, relevance of policy, and other issues. These differences often generate fascinating discussions at Working Group meetings.

Despite diverse and sometimes conflicting models and approaches, the Working Group is united in sharing ideas and promoting the practice of housing microfinance in Tanzania. Several of  non-member institutions who were in attendance at the workshop indicated that they were preparing to develop housing microfinance products and would like to join the Working Group. The workshop appears to have succeeded in its objective of promoting the practice of housing microfinance and bringing more institutions into the on-going dialogue of how the practice can be developed.