Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has tasked financial market experts to support government’s efforts by developing an appropriate housing finance model that will significantly transform the housing sector on a large scale.
Osinbajo made the case against the backdrop of housing deficit estimated at between 18-22 million housing units and the quest to close the gap in the country.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Monday when he received on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, a delegation from the FMDQ Group led by its CEO, Mr Bola Onadele.
Economic experts say the housing deficit in Nigeria is estimated between 18-22 million housing units, while the ratio of mortgage finance to GDP in the country is only 0.5%, it is 31% in South Africa, and 2% in Ghana and Botswana.
But after listening to a presentation by the FMDQ delegation, Prof. Osinbajo stated “I like the point you made about the National Housing Blueprint. I very strongly believe that if we are able to unlock the conundrum in the sector, we can get things working.”
According to the Vice President, “in our ESP, we have something on social housing but one of the critical issues there is how to market these houses, how we are able to provide the finance so that people can afford to buy them. These are houses that are in the order of about N2 million or N2.5 million.
“But there are still constraints on account of the fact that we just do not have anything like a feasible housing finance model, I think it is time for us to do so. It just looks like it has always escaped our capacity to find a real solution to the problem.”
Speaking on the possibility of having a model that will work, Prof. Osinbajo noted that “everyone recognizes that we are in very challenging times. But I agree with you that the sheer range and vastness of our potentials make it seem almost intuitive that we are bound to succeed.
“I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that given the right mix of policy initiatives, we can get these things done. And your characterization of what needs to be done like attracting capital and sustaining it is so important because ultimately, capital will go where it is best treated.
“And if we are able to attract it (because we have the market, we have everything going for us), even in the worst of times, despite the situation, you find that there is still a great deal of interest.”
Speaking earlier, Mr Bola Onadele said the visit was to inform the Vice President about the transformation taking place in the FMDQ and the need for government support in growing the financial market for the benefit of Nigerians and the economy.
While applauding the efforts of the Buhari administration in creating the environment for the transformation to occur, Mr Onadele identified areas of interest for investment in the market to include housing finance and mobilizing capital for projects in the transportation sector, among others.
Financial Market Dealers Quotation (FMDQ) is Africa’s first vertically integrated financial market infrastructure (FMI) group, strategically positioned to provide registration, listing, and quotation services, and is owned by the Central Bank and commercial banks in Nigeria.
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