Housing Guaranty (HG) to the Government of Botswana (GOB) to increase the public and private sector provision of low-cost housing in Francistown, a city of growing economic importance, and in other cities. National/local entities will implement the project”s construction, credit, and institution-building efforts. In Francistown, the Ministry of Local Government and Lands, in conjunction with the Francistown Town Council, will receive a portion of HG funds to contract private firms to upgrade primary infrastructure (roads, drainage, streetlighting, water standpipes, and pit latrines) at 1,125 squatter plots and to develop such infrastructure at 2,325 new site and service plots; 50-100 of these plots will be reserved for small businesses. The public sector Francistown Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) will use other HG funds to issue 1,700-2,000 building loans for these plots to low-income families. Squatters with very low incomes will receive 28% of these loans; 57% will be allocated for new site and service plots. The loans will include those which plotholders can use to hire a small contractor or to purchase materials in order to support the private sector construction industry. The SHHA will also use HG funds to build 6 primary schools, a clinic, a community center, and a SHHA ward office. The private sector Botswana Building Society (BBS) will receive the remaining HG funds for onlending to 600 near-median-income families for purchasing and building houses with individual water and sewer services at 600 sites. Of these, 250 will be in Francistown and 350 elsewhere in the country (most likely in Gabarone, Lobatse, and Selebi-Phikwe). The GOB will provide $13.5 million to support the above-noted activities, including full funding of an area for medium- and large-scale industries. The GOB will provide another $5.6 million through the parastatal Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) to build 315 houses for rental to middle/upper income families in Francistown. Grant funds will finance 2-3 person-years of short-term TA to the Francistown Treasury Department in municipal financial management and local revenue generation, and short seminars will be conducted on these topics. Limited TA will be provided for the BBS. Authorization Amendment of 6/13/91 deauthorizes funding for project 633HG03, under which the GOB never borrowed any funds, by mutual agreement between USAID and the GOB. (PD-ABD-317)
