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The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has stated that the federal government would need the sum of N56 trillion in order to redress the 16 million housing deficit in the country.
The executive director, Organisation and Resource Department, FMBN, Mr Mike Nwogbo, made this known yesterday when the minister of lands, housing and urban development, Ms Amal Pepple, paid a familiarisation visit to the mortgage institution.
He said the N56 trillion would help in solving the problems in the housing sector at an average cost of N3.5 million per housing unit.
“We require the sum of N56 trillion to address the housing problems. We need to bring down the housing deficit and we have been offering loans to individuals and estate developers. And since the inception of the bank in 1992, we have made a collection of N70 billion in terms of NHF scheme,” he said.
He added that the FMBN had the mandate to link the mortgage loans to estate developers, adding that loans were also given to civil servants by the federal government in line with the construction policy.
Nwogbo, however, called on states in the country to participate in the National Housing Fund Scheme (NHFS) for the realisation of effective housing delivery.
“We observed more than 12 states were not participating in the scheme but, two months ago, we got some states back to the scheme. We have dialogued with the Nigeria Labour Congress to also go back to the scheme,” he said.
While responding, Pepple commended the private developers for their contributions in the sector, adding that there was need for enumeration of houses in the FCT and states for the past three years.
Meanwhile, the minister of trade and investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, has announced that, come next year, Nigeria would join the ranks of cement-exporting countries and would emerge as the largest cement producing plant in the world in the next two years.
Minister Aganga spoke during a press briefing to mark the first 100 days in the life of the present administration, yesterday in Abuja.
He said this feat has been achieved through the application of the backward integration policy in the cement sector, adding that the federal government would also extend this policy to other sectors of the economy as the nation pursues economic independency.
His ministry, he stated, has started working with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources and key stakeholders to develop this policy for the rice and sugar sector to enable the country gain self-sufficiency in these areas.
He revealed that, with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), his ministry had developed the Nigeria Agribusiness and Agro-industries Development Initiative (NAADI), which would be launched in the next few weeks.
Aganga hinted that, as part of a determined drive to develop a robust automotive industry in the country and boost the patronage of the industry’s products, a Nigerian Vehicle Credit Purchase Scheme (NVCPS) with N2.5 billion as takeoff fund had been established.
Furthermore, he said, in addition to the N119.822bn loan already approved by the federal government for manufacturers of motorcycle tyres and tubes, a long-term Automotive Development Fund (ADF) had also been put in place for lending at concessionary rate to the automotive industry, while another N1billion Mechanics’ Credit Scheme (MCS) takeoff fund to be administered by microfinance banks would enable mechanics to buy tools and equipment for their workshops.
The minister clarified that the federal government had not granted waiver to any company to import Volkswagen vehicles into the country as claimed by some newspapers (LEADERSHIP not included), stressing that the regime was primarily concerned with promoting the local production of cars and also supporting clusters of industries that provide the spare parts.
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