Abuja – April 20, 2024 – Viewpoint Housing News.
In an effort to to revamp Nigeria’s housing sector, the MD of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) met with Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
The meeting was aimed at accelerating housing delivery goals and strategizing on sector-wide reforms.
During the gathering held at the FMBN headquarters in Abuja, Shehu Osidi, the managing director of FMBN, underscored the pivotal role of housing in economic revitalization, job creation, and overall socio-economic development.
Emphasizing a multi-pronged approach, Osidi highlighted plans for public-private partnerships to facilitate widespread housing provision, saying that President Tinubu’s commitment to erecting 1000 houses nationwide, backed by a 100 billion naira guarantee from FMBN, echoed the collaborative effort to tackle housing challenges.
To ensure affordability, Osidi outlined measures including reduced equity contributions and the introduction of an earn-to-own scheme, aimed at low-income earners.
Additionally, strict control over housing prices was pledged to align with affordability goals
In his words: “We will provide mortgages to ensure that the housing units are affordable to low income earners. we are fully involved so we will control the prices to which this houses are delivered.
“We have already reduced equity contributions from 30% to 10% to enhance affordability. We have also introduced the earn-to-own which does not require any equity contribution.”
Chairman of the Housing Reform Task Teams, Adedeji Adesemoye, reiterated the presidential mandate to drive comprehensive reforms in the housing sector.
Identifying outdated housing laws as a key hurdle, Adesemoye expressed confidence in the team’s ability to enact meaningful change, leveraging collective stakeholder engagement.
According to him, the reform agenda, spearheaded by the newly inaugurated task teams, encompasses critical areas such as housing institutions, multi-agency project delivery, land reforms, and building materials manufacturing hubs.
He expressed confidence that the collaborative efforts between FMBN, government task teams, and stakeholders will enhance concerted efforts towards addressing housing challenges and fostering sustainable development in Nigeria’s housing sector.
