Thierno Habib Hann: 'Making Housing a Lever of Sovereignty for Africa'

In the heart of Rabat, within the history-laden walls of Morocco's capital, a score resolutely turned toward the future was being played. The annual general meetings of Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB) had just concluded, and in the wake of official speeches, its CEO Thierno Habib Hann sat down with Financial Afrik. A banker and builder rolled into one, Hann wastes no time on rhetorical flourishes. He states it plainly: housing in Africa is not merely a matter of bricks and mortar. It is a question of sovereignty. The deficit is well known, almost over-cited: tens of millions of housing units are missing across the continent. But Hann refuses to stop at the diagnosis. For him, this figure is the symptom of a deeper malady: the absence of a tailored financial ecosystem. 'For decades, we imported models that did not fit our realities,' he says, his gaze sharp. 'The informal sector, which accounts for up to 80% of the economy in some countries, was never taken into account.' The result: entire populations excluded from the traditional banking circuit, condemned to makeshift solutions. It is to address this deadlock that Shelter Afrique underwent its metamorphosis. From a simple guarantee company, it transformed into a development bank. A change that is not merely administrative: it reflects a political ambition. 'We no longer want to be a counter. We want to be a strategic partner for states, developers, and investors,' Hann explains. Concretely, this means an increased