Interview conducted by Ismaila Sy, permanent correspondent in Casablanca.
Closed on June 15 in just 24 hours, the securitization operation of residential mortgage loans (RMBS) carried out by five subsidiaries of the Ecobank Group confirms the market’s appetite for the ZAKA program. In this interview with Financial Afrik, Yedau OGOUNDELE, Managing Director of AFINHAB, and Adji Sokhna M’BAYE, Managing Director of BOAD Titrisation, decrypt the challenges of this financial engineering serving housing.
The housing deficit in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), estimated at 3.5 million units, increases by 800,000 each year due to demographic pressure and rapid urbanization. Faced with this urgency, traditional financing mechanisms show their limits. It is in this context that the ZAKA program, initiated by AFINHAB (formerly CRRH-UEMOA) and structured by BOAD Titrisation, emerges as a response.
After an inaugural issuance of 10 billion CFA francs with NSIA Bank Côte d’Ivoire, the program has reached a new milestone. The “FCTC ZAKA RMBS ECOBANK CÔTE D’IVOIRE 2026-2038” compartment, with an amount of 4.5 billion CFA francs, was fully subscribed on the day of its launch. Backed by portfolios of residential mortgage loans from five subsidiaries of the Ecobank Group (Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, and Togo), this operation illustrates the growing maturity of the regional financial market. A crossroads meeting with the two leaders driving this financial transformation.
Financial Afrik: The ZAKA RMBS Ecobank operation has just been closed in record time. How do you analyze this success in the regional market?
Yedau OGOUNDELE (AFINHAB): This success confirms that we were right in initiating the ZAKA program. The UEMOA financial market is ready for sophisticated instruments, provided they are readable, well-structured, and generate social and economic impact. Closing an operation before maturity also demonstrates investors’ confidence in the model. It also proves that securitization is no longer seen as a complex mechanism but as a concrete lever to channel savings into high-impact sectors such as housing.
Adji Sokhna M’BAYE (BOAD Titrisation): As arranger and management company, we measure the evolution of investors’ risk perception. This operation, structured around several categories of securities offering different return and risk profiles, including a AAA-rated senior tranche, precisely meets their expectations for diversification and security. The rapid enthusiasm is explained by the quality of the structuring and the robustness of the underlying portfolios, composed of five subsidiaries of a leading banking group like Ecobank.
Financial Afrik: AFINHAB, formerly CRRH-UEMOA, recently unveiled its new identity. How does the ZAKA program fit into this new institutional dynamic?
Yedau OGOUNDELE (AFINHAB): For several years, we have not only focused on our historical refinancing activity; we also offer alternative financing solutions such as securitization. The name change to AFINHAB does not reflect a break from our mission, which still aims to facilitate access to housing in the UEMOA, but rather a scaling up to address the magnitude of the housing deficit. We need to innovate to expand our impact. ZAKA is the perfect embodiment of this ambition: pushing the boundaries of housing finance by mobilizing new resources.
Financial Afrik: Specifically, why use securitization rather than traditional refinancing mechanisms? What is the respective role of your two institutions?
Adji Sokhna M’BAYE (BOAD Titrisation): Securitization allows transforming illiquid portfolios of mortgage loans into negotiable financial securities. For banks, it is an effective solution to free up capital and create capacity to grant new loans. The role of BOAD Titrisation is to provide financial engineering: we structure the operation, set up the Common Fund for Credit Securitization (FCTC), and ensure rigorous management over time.
Yedau OGOUNDELE (AFINHAB): AFINHAB acts as the sponsor of the program. We bring our in-depth knowledge of the housing market, our ability to federate the banking ecosystem, and our institutional signature. It is this complementarity between the structuring expertise of BOAD Titrisation and our sectoral anchoring that makes ZAKA strong.
Financial Afrik: This operation involves five subsidiaries of the Ecobank Group. What is the scope of this multi-country dimension?
Adji Sokhna M’BAYE (BOAD Titrisation): It is a historic first for the Ecobank Group and a major advancement for our market. Aggregating portfolios from five countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Togo) allows reaching a critical size and pooling structuring costs. This demonstrates the ability of a regional banking group to mobilize multiple entities around a common financial solution, thus connecting available savings to concrete needs.
Financial Afrik: There are also international reference investors, such as Proparco. What signal does this send?
Yedau OGOUNDELE (AFINHAB): This is a strong signal. After being the reference investor in AFINHAB’s first social bonds issuance, PROPARCO is driving a new dynamic by investing in the ZAKA program. The participation of international actors of this caliber illustrates the growing appetite for well-structured African assets with social impact. This validates our governance and structuring standards. Attracting these international funds is essential to fill the housing finance gap in our region.
Financial Afrik: After NSIA Bank and Ecobank, how do you envision the future of the ZAKA program and, more broadly, housing finance in the UEMOA?
Adji Sokhna M’BAYE (BOAD Titrisation): ZAKA is an evolving platform, a program designed to last. It demonstrates that capital markets can address essential social challenges. This operation opens a path that we will continue to deepen with AFINHAB, to make securitization a standard tool for housing.
Yedau OGOUNDELE (AFINHAB): The word “ZAKA” evokes home, family in Mooré, a language spoken in the Union: deeply rooted concepts in our societies. Our vision is to multiply these operations to create a real market for mortgage loans in the UEMOA. It is time to finance housing differently. With AFINHAB, we are determined to fully play our role as a catalyst so that every West African family can ultimately access decent housing.
