IN a major boost to efforts to clear the national housing backlog estimated at 1.7m houses, the ZANU  PF Government has  secured a US$65m loan from Shelter Afrique. Shelter Afrique is a pan-African finance institution that exclusively supports the development of the housing and real estate sector in Africa. According to minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Cde Daniel Garwe the loans will be channelled through local building societies and Urban Development Corporation (UDCORP). Cde Garwe said the loan was part of a two pronged approach his ministry had adopted to seek resources both internally and externally to meet the country’s housing requirements. “We have mobilised resources externally and internally and we are talking to Shelter Afrique a bank with a focus on providing finance for social housing. Zimbabwe is a shareholder in the bank and last week we had a virtual meeting with Shelter Afrique and we are getting US$55m. Our building societies are warming up to take the money. We also have a parastatal under the ministry UDCORP which will also get US$10M from Shelter Afrique bringing the total to US$65m”. Since the loans are forex denominated, Cde Garwe said the diaspora market will be targeted and his ministry had put in place a number of measures to lure Zimbabweans domiciled abroad. Under the 2018 ZANU PF People’s Manifesto, the Party committed its Government to clear the national backlog and bring sanity to unplanned urban land development while improving social amenities in urban centres.