Across Africa, governments, the private sector and DFIs are each grappling with how best to structure their investments in affordable housing, such that the construction of affordable housing is increased, and good housing markets develop. Across the breadth of tools and approaches, blended finance has emerged in recent years as a particular methodology for ‘blending’ concessional funding with market-based, commercial investments, to realise a set of specified impacts, both financial and other. The approach is well noted and adopted in very many of the social sectors. In housing, however, successful blended finance transactions are rare.

We understand that a key challenge lies in the complexity of housing markets—where risks are often poorly understood or mispriced, and where returns can be long-term and less certain. The lack of robust data and pipeline-ready projects deters private investors, while limited government capacity and policy misalignment reduce the effectiveness of public and philanthropic capital in de-risking investments. Furthermore, housing projects often require coordination across multiple sectors—land, infrastructure, finance—which complicates structuring and implementation. And informality, a key feature in affordable housing markets – is poorly accommodated in the expectations of investors in blended transactions.

These barriers underscore the need for targeted innovation, institutional collaboration, and a deeper understanding of how to tailor blended finance mechanisms to the unique dynamics of affordable housing in Africa.

In response to these challenges, CAHF, in collaboration with Convergence, has developed a blended finance playbook for Africa’s affordable housing sector—also available in French to support deeper engagement across Francophone markets.

The report provides a structured framework for defining objectives, addressing market pre-conditions, and designing blended finance solutions that align development impact with financial sustainability. Drawing on practical case studies, it demonstrates how concessional capital can be strategically deployed to mobilise private investment and unlock pipeline-ready affordable housing projects.

The Benin conference provides a critical platform to carry this conversation forward, grounding the report’s insights in Francophone market realities and advancing dialogue on how blended finance mechanisms can be adapted, structured, and scaled to close Africa’s housing gap.