Partnerships

Partnerships with MFIs
Examples of HFHI’s current formal partnerships with microfinance organizations include: ACCION International (for joint research and pilot projects focused on scaling housing microfinance in Latin America/Caribbean); Grameen affiliates (Haiti’s largest MFI, Fonkoze, and CEP, the largest MFI in Vietnam); Opportunity International (in partnership with their local affiliate in Macedonia, the Philippines, and through a joint project aimed at AIDS orphans in three African countries); FINCA (Colombia with emerging partnerships in Afghanistan and Uganda); World Relief (with URWEGO, the largest MFI in Rwanda, and CREDIT in Cambodia); and World Vision (through their local Vision Finance affiliates in Mongolia and Peru). Other HFHI organizations, such as in Thailand, Brazil, the Philippines, Vietnam, Chile, Costa Rica and South Africa, are partnering with government housing agencies in targeting subsidies and construction TA towards low-income housing solutions.

HFHI is a member of the SEEP Network and in addition to direct programmatic collaboration seeks to influence the microfinance industry in such a way that housing becomes a standard loan product among MFIs, occupying a significant share of microfinance portfolios. To this end, HFHI will contribute by documenting research and case studies, disseminating best practices, and stimulating investment in housing finance for the poor.

World Bank contract

In June 2006, HFHI signed a contract with the Housing Finance group of the World Bank “to provide a consultancy service for a report titled Role and Limits of Housing Micro Finance in Emerging Economies.” This report will provide source materials for a dedicated chapter to be drafted by the World Bank Operations and Policy Department for a book on “Housing Finance in Emerging Economies”. HFHI sub-contracted Franck Daphnis to serve as the lead researcher and writer, and negotiated staff support from ACCION International.