MOFI Plans Capital Market Funding To Tackle Nigeria Housing Deficit
The Ministry of Finance Incorporated, MOFI, is turning to the capital market to raise funds for large-scale affordable housing projects as part of efforts to address Nigeria’s housing deficit.
The Chief Executive Officer of MOFI, Dr Armstrong Takang, revealed this in Abuja when senior members of the Housing Development Advocacy Network, HDAN, visited his office.
According to Takang, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund, MREIF, is central to the One Million Homes Presidential Initiative. The initiative seeks to provide affordable homes for Nigerians through new and sustainable financing models.
He said MREIF will be driven by market principles and will pull together resources from pension funds and the wider financial sector to make low-interest mortgage loans available, particularly to contributors with pension accounts. This, he said, will open up homeownership to more Nigerians and help close the housing gap.
Takang added that the fund will operate with transparency and market efficiency to strengthen the mortgage system and create lasting access to affordable housing.
To get the fund right, government has enlisted experienced hands from the pension and finance industry. Those involved include the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, Wale Odutola of ARM Pensions, Funmi Ekundayo of STC Trustees and Saadu Jijji of PAL Pensions. They will bring expertise in fund management, real estate finance and investment advisory to structure and deploy the fund.
He noted that pension account holders will be able to access mortgages at reduced rates through MREIF, a move expected to remove the financial barriers that have kept many Nigerians from owning homes.
MOFI also plans to collaborate with key housing institutions including Family Homes Funds Limited and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, as well as support Primary Mortgage Institutions to boost their capacity to deliver affordable housing.
Earlier, HDAN welcomed the Federal Government’s N250 billion allocation to address the housing shortfall, describing MOFI’s capital market strategy as a welcome development. The group said it is happy MOFI is ready to raise money from the capital market, an area that has not been tapped in Nigeria, and expressed optimism that the housing and mortgage sector will see new growth from 2025.
The group however urged MOFI to draw lessons from past federal housing programmes and to engage only credible professionals and developers with proven delivery records.
Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, commended MOFI for the initiative and called on estate developers to support the actualisation of President Bola Tinubu’s one million homes target.
HDAN said with strong partnership between the Federal Government, MOFI and industry stakeholders, Nigeria can record major progress in housing development.
Former Chairman of the Federal Government Reform Committee on Land, Dr Ugochukwu Chime, at the meeting, highlighted the need to fix land titling issues which continue to block access to housing finance.
Another stakeholder, Emmanuel Akinwumi, also asked government to review old housing and mortgage laws to improve sector performance and ensure the success of the new housing plan.
