Treasury: Africans Should Explore Mortgage Finance

The "time is right" for many African countries to "seriously address the issue of mortgage finance" with the help of the United States, according to John B. Taylor, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs.In remarks at the African Development Bank housing roundtable in Uganda, Mr. Taylor echoed a speech by President Bush last summer in Nigeria in which the president expressed an interest in seeing mortgage markets developed in Africa. Government institutions such as the Overseas Private Investment Corp. and Ginnie Mae have been assisting African countries in this effort, according to the Treasury. Ginnie Mae executive vice president George Anderson announced in April that he would be leaving the agency to help African countries develop their mortgage markets.