N55trn Needed To Tackle Housing Deficit In 10 Years — Federal Gov’t

The Federal Government has said that a whopping N55 trillion will be needed to fix Nigeria’s housing deficit over the next 10 years.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, on Thursday in Abuja, during a special press briefing to mark his first anniversary in office as Minister.

He noted that when he assumed office alongside the Minister of State for Housing, Abdullahi Gwarzo, they developed an Action Plan in line with the Presidential Priorities and Deliverables of President Bola Tinubu administration, saying that this was necessary to guide them in the implementation of reforms and initiatives that will increase access to affordable housing for Nigerians as well as unlock the potential of the housing sector to contribute to economic growth and improve the nation’s urban landscape.

Speaking on the ministry’s plan to address the nation’s housing deficit challenge, the minister said Nigeria would require about 550,000 housing units yearly for the next 10 years, which would cost a concomitant N5.5 trillion per year.

“I pointed out that from research, Nigeria’s population of over 220 million with a growth rate of 2.5% p.a. requires about 550,000 units over the next ten years to meet the housing deficit. I also noted that this would require about N5.5 trillion per annum to be fixed.

“While I acknowledged that these cannot come from the Government and that we are working on PPPs and other sources of housing finance to bridge the gap, it is necessary for the government to do more in terms of budgetary allocation to Housing & Urban Development”.

“On this basis, we made a solemn request for the budgetary allocation of a minimum of N500bn Budgetary Allocation Per Annum for the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme so that we can create more impact and enable more Nigerians to have access to decent shelter. I am happy to say that this was well received by all the National Assembly Committees. This means we are on course to triple our impact in the 2nd year, God willing,” Dangiwa stated.

The minister highlighted that besides increased budgetary allocation, the ministry was determined to explore all possible housing financing options to tackle the massive housing deficit faced by the country.

“We may not have the financial war chest, but we have leverage as a government. For far too long, we have failed to maximize our relationships with bilateral and multi-lateral institutions including those that we have substantial interests. We have seen where smaller African countries are taking advantage of these housing development institutions to boost housing for their citizens while we simply watch. Within this one year, we have taken steps to change this,” he added.

He further noted that the ministry was set to sign a Housing Development Partnership with Shelter Afrique Development Bank, under which the Pan-African Housing Institute will support the Renewed Hope programme with advisory services and the financing of competent developers.