Naomi Gabriel —
Pan-African finance housing institute, Shelter Afrique have entered into a pact with the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) to construct 6,000 housing units in the country.
The agreement that would see to the development of 1000 units of affordable housing in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country, was signed between the President of REDAN, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko and Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Andrew Chimphonda at the just concluded Abuja International Housing Show (AIHS), last week in Abuja.
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The Shelter Afrique boss admitted that there are strategies in place that would help Nigeria’s COVID-19 recovery and support large-scale affordable housing schemes through the issuance of N250 billion bond.
“The plan is to provide housing and homeownership for low and medium income homebuyers, which will result in improving their standard of living, he said.
“Housing has both forward and backward linkages with the economy. The contribution of construction and rental housing to economies such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya can be as high as 14 per cent.”
Chimphondah also revealed that 107 million people are living in urban centres as at last year, adding that urbanisation rate stands at 4.17 per cent. He said Nigeria has a mortgage rate of 25 per cent and term of 20 years. However, commended the Nigerian Government’s commitment to invest $619 million in solar homes systems that will light up five million households and serve about 25 million citizens, who are not currently connected to national grid.
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On his part, Wamakko said the signing of the MoU is a demonstration of the value they have placed on Shelter Afrique. “With the pact, it will address several issues affecting housing development in Nigeria,” he added.
He hoped that the agreement would proffer practical solutions on increasing housing stock for the growing population and creating of employment as well as contributing to economic development.
“COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise and though many countries have succeeded in curtailing the spread of the virus, it is still a lingering problem and new waves have emerged. Solutions to the pandemic rest principally with having sufficient functional homes, the REDAN boss said.
“We are also collaborating with the professional bodies in the built industry to achieve quality standards, and Building Materials Producers and Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI) to actualise our quest for a Nigerian House. Our immediate focus is to build 100 affordable housing units in each local council. The private sector is ready to take drastic actions to invest in the construction of affordable and decent houses.
“As an institution on the supply side of the housing delivery, we have marshaled resources, interfaced with critical partners in the housing value chain, which includes the Family Homes Funds Limited and Shelter Afrique to provide construction finance through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN)”, Wamakko concluded.
