Eight rewarded as HFC celebrates decade |07 October 2013
Eight staff members including chief executive Ronny Palmyre celebrated a decade working with Housing Finance Company Limited (HFC) as the lending institution which gives loans for construction and renovation works on houses clocked 10 years since its creation.
The other seven are Betty Albert, Elvis Barreau, Linda Otar, Joan Labrosse, Monique Lucas, Weeny Gujral and Dominique Rene and they received their awards at the Wharf Hotel & Marina on Saturday in the presence of other HFC staff and board members, and land use and housing principal secretary Joseph François.
Before chief executive Palmyre, HFC board chairman Ronald Cafrine and Ms Rene cut the cake in the form of the letter 10, and Stan Florentine performed his own composition to mark the 10th anniversary, those present learned that the lending institution has in the last 10 years approved 8,198 loans for a sum of R733 million.
HFC has helped 2,300 individuals with loans to build, finish or renovate their houses, said chief executive Palmyre, adding that the company will continue to help people as this is its core business.
“HFC’s role is to source out funds without depending on government’s budget to give out loans to clients at an affordable rate and we are happy the company has been able to do a good job. I would like to thank all our stakeholders including Nouvobanq which had managed our loan portfolio for eight years until 2011,” said Mr Palmyre.
He also had words of thanks for his staff: “I thank you all for your devotion, determination and perseverance in delivering your duties which are not always easy. I just hope you continue giving your very best as the country needs you to continue to help in its development.”
Mr Palmyre added that the HFC has just joined the African Union for Housing Finance, an association of mortgage banks, building societies, housing corporations and other organisations involved in the mobilisation of funds for shelter and housing on the African continent.
“We stand to benefit a lot from the other members’ expertise and experience, and at the same time get training for our staff,” he said.
HFC board chairman Cafrine also talked about HFC’s successes and the need for a good social fabric before reminding everyone that shelter is one of our basic needs and this is true according to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model.
“We thank all the missionaries from day one, those who have left the company and those who have soldiered on. We also thank all banks that have lent us money and last but not least we thank all staff. The board can have the best plan for the company, but if the staff members are not ready to commit themselves and follow, we will not be able to develop the plan and move forward,” said Mr Cafrine.
At ease with her clients but not when being interviewed by Seychelles Nation, loans officer Lucas only said: “I love my job despite all the difficulties I encounter.”
Joan Labrosse of the debtors section was more vocal: “It’s through good teamwork that I’ve been able to clock 10 years with HFC. We are a young team and there are a lot of changes happening within the company. There are new expectations and we all work together to achieve our goal,” said Ms Labrosse, who worked for the defunct Seychelles Housing Development Company (SHDC) before joining HFC in 2003.
HFC was created after the demise of SHDC and was incorporated under the Companies Act on May 21, 2003 and started operation on October 1 of the same year.
It is wholly owned by the government and was mandated to take over the loan portfolio of the SHDC in addition to start processing loans to help Seychellois build and renovate their own houses.
Although it is not a company with the aim of making big profits, but rather help government implement its housing programme, HFC has to sustain its operational cost since it depends on government budget.
In 2009, PMC (Property Management Company) was merged with HFC with the aim of maximising the resources of the two organisations.
But since 2011, HFC, based at Victoria House, has been operating under the Financial Institution Act which brings it under the jurisdiction of the Central Bank of Seychelles. Therefore, it can no longer engage itself in real estate, necessitating the split up of PMC and HFC once again.
And since January 2013, HFC and PMC have been operating separately but it was only last week that PMC moved into its new offices in Oceangate House.
A commercial parastatal under the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment, HFC’s operation is now restricted to only lending money for housing-related issues.
