Dina El Kadry launches the first mortgage intermediation platform in Senegal. Former director of mortgage loans at the CBAO Attijariwafa Bank group, this finance and communications professional wants to facilitate the sometimes restrictive relationship between banks, real estate developers and potential buyers. “In Senegal,” she explains, “the process of acquiring real estate is not well understood by first-time buyers. Buyers often lack reliable information to assess the quality of the property and make the right choice for the mode of financing ”.
Also, employees, members of the liberal profession or other categories perfectly eligible for a mortgage are sometimes unaware of their bank borrowing capacity (the amount that the bank will be ready to grant them according to their profile). Adding to the scarcity of reliable information is the disparity. The conditions for granting a mortgage differed from one bank to another. Bank notification deadlines are generally long. The client, not really mastering the negotiating levers, could accept the first loan proposal. The latter is often not the best. Insurance costs often forgotten when they are compulsory, notary fees and property registration and transfer rights are sometimes underestimated! “So many questions to which Alpha wishes to provide an answer and above all support”, explains Dina El Kadry to Financial Afrik.
Alpha, a team of real estate credit experts
Clearly, continues Ms. El Kadry, Alpha Digicredit acts as a one-stop-shop. “Having a single and transparent contact like Alpha not only allows you to have a clear idea from the outset of all the costs associated with a real estate acquisition and to avoid additional costs, but above all to negotiate the best conditions on behalf of the customer over the entire value chain, where several experts intervene to reduce the costs associated with this purchase as much as possible ”.
The Alpha platform, which has mortgage intermediation authorization obtained from the financial authorities, has signed agreements with the largest banks in the market, which allows it to negotiate valuable rate reductions in favor of customers. “Acquiring real estate is the goal of a lifetime for many Senegalese and Africans, living on the continent and abroad. But the disappointments are numerous and there is not, in our opinion, support and specialized advice allowing future buyers to choose from the panoply of available offers, ”says the banker straddling her subject.
“As a single point of contact, Alpha manages the credit acquisition application process from end to end, the relationship with the notary, the insurance company, the promoter and manages the file until the keys are handed over”, assures us Dina EL KADRY.
Combine a reliable and fundable real estate offer
What could be better than combining a reliable and fundable real estate offer on the same platform? “In order to offer our clients the possibility of making an informed choice, Alpha is positioning itself as a one-stop shop that brings together the real estate offer as well as support in bank financing. We implement the real estate projects of our developer partners on the platform after qualification work which allows us to study the reputation and expertise of each. Our visitors have access to a wide choice of quality real estate projects throughout Senegal. They access the property of their dream (House, apartment, land or offices), directly on the site. The property is described in detail, with photos, videos, plans of the project as well as geolocation, in order to offer future buyers a panoramic view that will allow them to easily project themselves “.
In addition, and to democratize access to financial information, the user, in complete independence, has access to a personalized simulator (available free of charge on the “www.alpha.sn” site in a few clicks) making it possible to determine according to his profile (employees, liberal professions or others, residents or Diaspora), its bank borrowing capacity. “We have integrated algorithms that take into account the calculation parameters of local banks to provide reliable information. Once the client has been qualified by our experts, we compare the bank financing conditions and present them with the best offers from local banks ”.
For the collection of the documents necessary for the constitution of his financing request file, “the client does not go to the site and can easily send the necessary documents to the site in a fully encrypted and secure environment”, explains Ms. El Kadry.
And to continue: “In order to provide the client with the best possible support and to create a close relationship, our credit experts are always available for personalized follow-up at each stage of the development of their file. In his personal space, he will be able to consult in real time the monitoring of the processing of his file between alpha and the bank ”.
Alpha, which defines itself as a catalyst between all the stakeholders working to facilitate the conditions of access to housing, comes at the right time, with the launch of the 100,000 housing program in Senegal. “In the short term, assures the one who is also communicative, our strategy is to offer the same service in Ivory Coast, and in other African countries in the medium term”.
Ultimately, the purpose of Alpha’s approach is to provide most families with an environment conducive to social development. “We want to contribute to the stability of a whole youth, and this requires an essential foundation: a roof for all the builders of the nation, a home where the generations of the future can develop freely. Rent is a synonym of freedom, as Koffi Annan puts it so well: “If progress is the law, freedom is the instrument of progress”.
