Rullion's Blog

FRESH building blocks were again laid unto the housing sector last week, when the Pan African Housing Finance Institution, Shelter Afrique made a pledge and commitment to the Federal Government to support 10,000 unit housing programme under the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC). In the sideline of the 33rd Annual General Meeting of Shelter Afrique in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, accompanied by the President, the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Chief Emmanuel Olabode held discussion with senior officials of the bank, where the outgoing Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Mr. Alassane Ba confirmed the institution’s commitment to the programme.

Elsewhere, especially in the advanced economies of the world, housing finance is synonymous with mortgage, because in such societies, the only known way of buying and owning a home is by applying for, and accessing a mortgage facility. In Nigeria, the story is different. This is a country where home ownership is realised almost 100 percent from own savings or through communal and co-operative efforts. In Lagos, for instance, a city of about 18 million people where over 60 percent of this population lives in rented accommodation, unconfirmed report has it that about 86 percent of the housing stock in the city is funded from household income. Experts have revealed that housing finance by public authorities in Nigeria is about 10 percent; mortgage banks contribute about 2 percent, while contribution from banks and other institutions is insignificant. In a comparative analysis of what obtains in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, Sonnie Ayere, CEO, Dunn Lore...