The Kuyasa Fund: housing microcredit in South Africa

Abstract

This paper describes the Kuyasa Fund, a South African non-profit microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses solely on the provision of loans for use in housing. Launched in response to the shortfall in finance that is available to low-income state housing subsidy recipients, the Kuyasa Fund has grown rapidly over the past seven years and is poised for national expansion. This paper addresses the housing finance context and discusses some of the challenges facing housing microfinance in South Africa, and presents the Kuyasa methodology as a viable option for improving housing delivery.