Housing Development Will Fuel Economic Development, REDAN Advises Govt

Housing Development Will Fuel Economic Development, REDAN Advises Govt

The President of the Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Mr. Aliyu Wamakko, has called on federal, and state governments and all relevant stakeholders to actively engage in housing construction to stimulate the economy for overall national development.

Wamakko, the 4th president of REDAN, who was sworn in February, said he was excited by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) interventionist move which arose from COVID-19 tragedy, stating that it would undoubtedly open new opportunities for Nigeria.

He said: “Not too long, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emiefele, made a declaration that a lot of interventions will come in with some monies to sectors that will assist in stimulating the economy from the pandemic and the real estate sector is appropriately captured.

“I believe, this is a step in the right direction because capturing the real estate and housing sector means you are deliberately revitalising the micro economic sector right from the rural areas, because building about 100 housing units, for instance, entails creating over 250,000 jobs, through engaging labourers, bricklayers, carpenters, not to mention those involved in sales of building materials etc.”

The REDAN boss, who is the CEO of Jedo Investment, urged government to recapitalise the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) from its N5 billion dismal capital base, adding that the apex mortgage bank is the only avenue from where developers take loans for building houses across the country at 1% interest rate.

According to him, re-capitalising the bank entails more mortgages for developers to build social houses, which is a way to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

On benefits of developers joining REDAN, he said: “Members can only buy-in into the association when they are guaranteed benefits. As president, we shall be working more closely with FMBN, Family Homes Loans (FHL), NMRC and other bodies to optimise their potentialities for the ultimate benefits of building affordable houses for Nigerians, stressing that REDAN has kick-started a project with FMLs to build houses across the country.

“The association is also liaising with the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) a unit domiciled in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to make sure that the industry has no crooks and quacks, so as ensure integrity of members.”

According to him, the new executive would be taking advantage of the new anchor developers’ scheme as a way of developers pooling their financial resources together to leverage on quick and efficient production of houses.

Wamakko, expressed joy that REDAN and FMBN had amicably resolved the Estate Development Loans, which has been some sort of worry in the past, adding: “FMBN is also now ahead as they are in the process of creating cooperative mortgages for developers insisting that beneficiaries must come to the table with verifiable off-takers.”

He said: “Now, REDAN members are proactively shifting from build-to-sell to sell-to-build. This means that before we build, the developer must make sure that the off takers are on the ground. This is exactly what FMBN latest campaign is all about.”

While calling for entrenchment of integrity in the industry, he explained that integrity, dedication and honesty was Jedo Investment’s watchword, saying that the company has delivered houses for categories of people in Kano, Niger, Sokoto and at the Federal Capital Territory.

The JP megacity, on 72 hectares, is already on site in Abuja, working towards actualising the dream estate.

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