by Jumai Abu
The President of the Real Estate Developers Association of
Nigeria (REDAN), Dr. Aliyu Wammako, has urged the management of Federal
Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to lift ban on providing loans to private
developers in the country.
Wammako made the call when the leadership of the association to the office the
Managing Director of FMBN, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa on a courtesy call in Abuja.
He said, “ We are the bank management to lift the ban on providing estate development loans to private estate developers to enable us provide affordable housing to citizens.
“we are aware that the joint FMBN /REDAN committee on reinstatement of the EDL recommended to you will be given the needed approval.
We further appeal that REDAN should be availed details of loan approval, disbursements and issues relating to the loan as this would enable us to monitor the process.
This is even as he called for the urgent recapitalization
and streamlining of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
The REDAN boss stated
that the FMBN had a low capital in the area of five billion naira with other
institutions pegging about eight billion according to the Central Bank of
Nigeria’s indices. He added that its inadequacy makes the provision of more
homes a herculean task for real estate developers.
He advised the Federal Government to look into the challenges of housing
development and the underlying responsibilities of the FMBN in providing
affordable houses for Nigerians .
Wammako said Real Estate development contributed to about 6.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, and that it was very important to consider recapitalization and streamlining the FMBN for the development of the housing sector.
He commended the FMBN for having the lowest interest rate of six per cent, and advocated for cheaper mortgage rates that would further create jobs and provide more affordable houses in Nigeria.
He said the only way the housing sector would be properly and effectively developed, and the housing deficit reduced, was with the capitalization of the FMBN and that REDAN could not do anything about it.
Wammako urged the government to understand the implications
of strengthening the FMBN by recapitalizing it to facilitate the demand and
supply of affordable houses in Nigeria.
