N56 Trillion Required To Address Housing Deficit In Nigeria - Jonathan

Nigeria needs a minimum of N56 trillion to bridge the country’s 17 million housing units deficit. This information has been revealed by the President Goodluck Jonathan who spoke at the 53rd General Assembly of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in Abuja.

Jonathan was represented by the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen.
The President said the shortfall, which did not cover the cost of providing infrastructure, translated to an average cost of N3.5 million per housing unit to remedy the situation.
If this task is achieved, it would improve on the nation’s prevailing home ownership rate of 25 per cent, Jonathan noted.He further said his administration was aware of the conditions and the challenges facing settlements as the demand for infrastructure, basic services and housing was on the increase; adding that housing associated facilities were grossly inadequate, with millions of Nigerians living in substandard environments or slums plagued by squalor and lacking basic amenities of life.
‪To reverse this trend and to provide funding for the housing and construction sector, the government recently announced plans to establish the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC).
‪The public-private partnership (PPP) initiative would be executed with the Federal Government, Nigeria commercial banks and savings and loans institutions, with the World Bank committed to providing concessional credits of $300 million.
‪In turn, the President of NIA, Ibrahim Haruna, said the Institute stood ready to work with FG to find solutions to the problem, saying the main objective of the association was to promote the practice of the profession of Architecture in Nigeria.


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