Twahangana Fund
Since 1995 the Twahangana Fund channelled almost N$ 300 million to the saving groups of SDFN for the construction of over 7,000 houses, reaching more than 30,000 people. Repayments by SDFN Members as well as contributions by the Government of Namibia, the Private Sector and external funders are allocated to the Twahangana Fund.
The Twahangana Fund is a community-managed and revolving Development Fund that provides finance to the members of the SDFN saving groups for land acquisition, servicing of land and construction of houses as well as small business loans. Community-managed means that the saving groups of the Shack Dwellers are managing the Fund by approving loans within their groups according to defined criteria. They are also managing and recording the repayments of their group members. The administration of the Twahangana Fund is carried out by Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) Trust.
Since 2000, the Namibian Government has assisted the Shack Dwellers through the Twahangana Fund to obtain housing through an annual contribution from the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD). Previously, the Shack Dwellers benefited from a national housing program called 'Build Together'.
The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) and Namibia Housing Group (NHAG) Trust would like to give a special word of thanks to the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the Leadership of the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD): Since 2000, shortly after the Shack Dwellers Federation was founded in 1998, MURD supports SDFN/NHAG through an annual financial contribution to the Twahangana Fund, which increased to N$ 10 million. For the 2021/2022 financial year, the Ministry's financial contribution to Twahangana fund amounts to 37% of the income received.
For the past years, the SDFN has shown its community-led capacities to manage donor money and governmental subsidies, which encouraged also the private sector to channel donations through the Twahangana Fund: Standard Bank with its Buy-a-Brick Initiative, FirstRand Namibia Foundation through RMB, Pupkewitz Foundation, Twin Hills Trust/Osino Resources, Ohorongo Cement, MTC and NeoPaint.
Due to the transparent management of the Twahangana Fund by the communities themselves and the corresponding impact they have been making on the ground, the First Lady of Namibia, Madame Monica Geingos, offered to be their patron since 2015.