Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has initiated the rehabilitation process in an effort to turn around approximately 46 abandoned housing estates throughout the nation.
According to The PUNCH, the bank stated that this will be accomplished by collaboration with Shelter Afrique Development Bank, a pan-African financial organization that solely assists in the advancement of the continent’s housing and real estate industry.
While hosting the management of Shelter Afrique Development Bank recently in Abuja, FMBN Managing Director Shehu Usman Osidi made this statement and mentioned that the bank had prioritized revitalizing the housing estates.
He claims that the intense cooperation will enable Nigerian developers access to mortgage and construction finance.
“Nigeria has over 46 abandoned projects in the 36 states and the FMBN is ready to revive them” the speaker stated.
“Our research reveals that banks have contracts with states for home financing, under which the governments are supposed to build the estates’ infrastructure. Regrettably, many of the states have broken their word, and the projects have been shelved.
“We wish to work with Shelter Afrique Development Bank to provide infrastructure financing after learning about it through their product offers. This would enable us to complete the projects and turn them over to several Nigerians in need of shelter.”
Osidi also mentioned that Nigeria, the bank’s second-largest shareholder with a 15% stake, would look at funding opportunities to meet its goal of providing 100,000 housing units to Nigerians this year.
He said that “memorandums of understanding that were signed with the organization but were later abandoned are presently being reviewed by the FMBN. The purpose of this review is to investigate the potential advantages of this restored collaboration for Nigerians.”
Speaking as well, the CEO of Shelter Afrique, Thierno-Habib Hann, stated that the organization was in Nigeria to further its development financing agenda and position Nigeria as a destination for investments with an annual remittance from the diaspora of over $25 billion.
“We are prepared to work with FMBN and other organizations throughout Nigeria to address the housing gap,” he declared. There are opportunities and problems in equal measure. We are in a great position to work with the Nigerian government as a development finance institution and during this visit, we had the opportunity to meet with every member of the leadership, including the vice president, who is totally dedicated to promoting the industry’s expansion and increasing investments in it because she understands that housing generates jobs.”
According to the bank, it received remittances totaling approximately N100 billion through the National Housing Fund in 2023.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria launched the NHF plan, which deducts 2.5 percent of employees’ basic income each month to provide a steady stream of low-cost capital for long-term housing investments.
This was mentioned in a handover document that our journalist was able to receive from the previous managing director of FMBN, Madu Hamman.
“The highlight of our accomplishments over the last 22 months is that, in 2023, the bank’s National Housing Fund collection surpassed N100 billion for the first time. This is the first time in the bank’s history that the yearly collection has topped N100 billion.
“You have to really consider how you’re going to be able to raise the money through creative means, including outside the NHF, to meet the demands of the many contributors to the scheme. If we just rely on the NHF, that would not be possible.”
