Capital markets body approves real estate trust

Business

Written by DAILY NEWS Reporter

Mr Fred Msemwa.

CAPITAL Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) has approved Watumishi Housing Company Real Estate Investment Company (WHC-REIT), which has started with 68bn/- and is expected to grow gradually to 358bn/- in five years.

Watumishi Housing Company (WHC) Chief Executive Officer and WHCREIT Fund Manager, Mr Fred Msemwa, in a statement issued in Dar es Salaam, described the WHC-REIT as the first real investment trust in East Africa to mobilise resources for construction of houses for low and medium income earners.

“WHC-REIT intends to channel its investment towards the development of residential houses and commercial properties for immediate sale and rental, to meet the growing demand for accommodation in the market,” Dr Msemwa said. He said in the next three years, the WHC-REIT units will be floated on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) to allow members of the public to invest in expansive and lucrative real estate sector. “The WHC-REIT is a collective investment scheme that creates opportunity for many small investors with small amount of money to pull up their resources and invest in housing projects,” said Dr Msemwa, noting that the first phase of the housing project has started with 50 units in Morogoro region. Dr Msemwa implored Tanzanians to buy WHCREIT units at appropriate time, citing financial gains from appreciation of land and buildings as well as generated profits from the construction and sale of the houses as some of the benefits. The WHC-REIT scheme has come at a time when the economy has been at over six per cent for the past 10 years and is further forecast to expand at over seven per cent in the coming years. The demand for decent and affordable housing for public servants has also been growing especially in urban centres, where rural to urban migration is exacerbating the demand. WHC was created to help bridge the supply-demand gap for public servants’ housing, with the Public Service Pension Fund, Government Employees Provident Fund, PPF Pension Fund, LAPF Pension Fund, National Social Security Authority, National Health Insurance Fund and National Housing Corporation as the unit holders. Meanwhile, members of the public have responded positively to the WHC housing project, with the company receiving over 2,000 applications so far. “The response has been good, beyond our expectations. Although we are planning to construct 1,500 housing units in this phase, we have already received over 2,000 applications,” said Dr Msemwa. Apart from the Morogoro project that has already taken off, other projects are scheduled to start in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Coast and Mwanza regions by April, this year.