A Lagos-based real estate company, Mixta Africa Plc, has received a new $13 million line of credit from a pan-African housing development financier, Shelter Afrique.
The 5-year line with a 24-month moratorium has been structured to finance the group’s current real estate projects in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Morocco.
According to a release, the $13 million loan will co-finance the construction of 356 housing units in Côte d’Ivoire, 162 units in Senegal, and 371 units in Morocco, with sales prices ranging from $26,000 in Morocco, $45,000 in Côte d’Ivoire, and between $36,000 and $52,000 in Senegal.
Mixta Africa’s CEO and CFO, Mr. Benson Ajayi, praised Shelter Afrique for expanding financing options for real estate, adding that the strategy implemented by Shelter Afrique to raise funds for housing projects from bonds regional in local currency was laudable.
“We have been looking for this type of strategy from the DFIs that intend to support us. That Shelter Afrique was able to do this is really important to us and is what makes this transaction important and successful.
“If Shelter Afrique had approached us with a proposal in dollars, we would have said no, as our previous dollar transaction had its own share of foreign exchange-related challenges.
“However, we are confident that the dollar-denominated facility that Shelter Afrique is extending to us to finance projects in Morocco, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire will not suffer much currency impact,” Ajayi said.
For his part, the Acting Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Mr. Kingsley Muwowo, praised the strong and long-term relationship between the two institutions.
“In Mixta Africa, Shelter Afrique has a reliable partner who shares the common goal of developing affordable housing throughout Africa.
“Therefore, we have structured credit lines denominated in Naira and Dollars to support their real estate projects. The Naira loans, which are backed by the first installment of the N500 billion bond, which raised N46 billion, will support Mixta Africa’s projects in Nigeria to hedge against currency risks.
“The dollar ticket, which comes from our own capital resources, will support Mixta’s projects in Morocco, Senegal and Ivory Coast,” said Mr. Muwowo.
More than $50 million disbursed
Mr. Muwowo revealed that of the $110 million (N46 billion) raised from the Naira-denominated bond debut in April, more than $50 million had already been disbursed to finance projects in Nigeria.
“Two months ago, we approved a $19.5 million (N8 billion) loan to Mixta Africa to support its affordable housing projects in Nigeria.
“Last week, we also approved a $24.03 million (N10 billion) commercial loan to Landmark Africa to finance in part the construction of a mixed-use housing project, Landmark Waterview Apartments, and also to help the company refinance debt. existing. We look forward to a healthy project pipeline in Nigeria as demand continues to grow,” said Muwowo.
Mixta Africa is a pan-African property development company based in Lagos, Nigeria. It was established in 2005 and has successfully executed many impressive projects since then. The company is currently present in 8 countries in Africa, with full operations in Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Tunisia, but with projects in Algeria, Egypt and Mauritania.