Empowering Crédit Foncier du Cameroun to tackle housing crisis
Equipping an established housing finance institution to adapt to new challenges and opportunities
About the project
Altair was appointed by the World Bank (“WB”) to advise the Government of Cameroon and Crédit Foncier du Cameroun (“CFC”) on how to transform the CFC so that it can play a more effective role in the country’s housing finance system.
The project involved the following key stages:
- Diagnostic review of CFC
- International benchmarking
- Developing a new business plan for a reformed CFC
During stage 1, Altair collaborated with a local firm to assess the strategic priorities, technical/skills capacity, financial health and governance arrangements of the CFC as it currently exists.
Following this, Altair researchers undertook a comparative review of similar housing finance institutions across West Africa, to identify lessons to be learned for CFC.
The project concluded with Altair developing a business plan for a reformed CFC, including high-level recommendations for its governance arrangements, strategic priorities, financial planning, and operational requirements.
Results
Ultimately, Altair’s expert team concluded that CFC should dramatically reorientation itself. The reformed CFC should step back from the direct provision of housing finance products to end users (e.g. mortgages) and take on a new dual role of secondary mortgage refinancing and housing subsidy management. Altair devised a roadmap, or high-level implementation plan, for the new institution envisaged.
