Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has disclosed that Nigeria requires $6.25 billion yearly investment to bridge the country’s widening housing deficit gap currently estimated at over 28 million units disclosed.
The minister, who gave these figures at the recently organized Renewed Hope Housing Public-Private Partnership Summit held in Abuja, lamented that despite the past housing policies and strategy papers on the housing sector, inconsistent implementation, lack of political will, and poor coordination of successive administrations had hampered the growth of the nation’s real estate sector.
He promised that the present administration was determined to reverse the ugly trend and deliver tangible results in the sector.
Dangiwa maintained that to bridge the housing gap the Federal Government in collaboration with other stakeholders, particularly the organized private sector (OPS) must deliver 500,000 housing units annually over the next decade.
The minister clarified: “At an average cost of N10m per unit, this translates to an annual financial requirement of over N5tn (approximately $6.25 bn). This scale of investment necessitates a collaborative strategy involving both the government and the private sector.”
While noting that over 70% of Nigeria’s 43 million housing units do not meet basic standards of safety, sanitation, accessibility, and infrastructure, he disclosed that currently only 3.30% of households had access to piped water, 24% had access to sewage systems, and just 51.70% remained connected to the national grid.
To address the housing sector challenges, Dangiwa said the government was implementing the Renewed Hope Housing Programme and the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme, stressing that public-private partnerships is crucial to achieving large-scale affordable housing and urban development.
According to him, the present administration has made public-private partnerships a key part of its efforts to ensure that we conceive and implement large-scale affordable housing and urban development interventions and create significant impact nationwide.
The minister explained that as part of this strategy, the government was working with a consortium of developers to deliver 100,000 housing units under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
He said: “Under phase one of the MoU, we aim to deliver seven Renewed Hope Cities targeting the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Nasarawa, where there is effective demand for housing.”
The minister disclosed that construction had started on the projects with 6,612 housing units already flagged of in the FCT, Lagos, and Kano just as his ministry had also signed a partnership agreement with Shelter Afrique Development Bank to deliver 5,000 housing units in its first phase, with plans for nationwide expansion.
Dangiwa described the pact as historic because it marked the first time the Federal Government, through the ministry, is directly collaborating with the bank to access funds for affordable housing in the country.
In addition to financing, the minister explained that ShafDB would provide technical advisory services, including a comprehensive assessment of the country’s housing market space and the development of PPP transaction models for affordable housing and urban renewal projects.
This is even as he spoke about the government’s plans for specialised housing projects, such as the ‘Renewed Hope Medic Cities’ for healthcare workers, and the ongoing discussions to revive the Centenary City project, urging the OPS to collaborate with the government in the current drive to bridge the housing deficit.
Dangiwa canvassed: “We need more PPPs with technically and financially capable partners to deliver the Renewed Hope Agenda. If you have value to add to our work, you can be sure that you have a willing partner in us.”
