Ugo Aliogo
The Managing Director, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Kehinde Ogundimu, has expressed support for the adoption of green buildings in Nigeria, stating that it is the new direction in housing development because of the low maintenance cost, better retail value, and eco-friendly nature.
He also stated the readiness of the company to give mortgages to house developers, noting that for the few residential green buildings that have been completed, people paid out rightly for them adding, “the developers didn’t take a mortgage because they were not sure that if they build, they will get a mortgage.”
Ogundimu, who disclosed this yesterday in Lagos yesterday during a cocktail party to celebrate Edge Pioneers in Nigeria organised by International Finance Corporation (IFC), and West Africa Property Investment Summit, said presently the company has not been able to take the few green buildings to the capital market because the developers are not creating mortgages on the buildings, “so they are like offices, school hostels, and others. But we are beginning to go into residential buildings.”
He hinted that in raising bonds from the capital market, they require green assets, while urging developers to build more green buildings because they are still few in the country.
The NMRC boss expressed optimism that the company is working to create the enabling environment where as soon as the developers are building, they are taking the assets to the capital market and getting liquidity from the market to build new ones.
“Green building is the way to go housing development in Nigeria, though it is new in Nigeria, but however it holds so much promises for us. The few people who did it, were those who understood the benefits and importance of green buildings. The focus for us is that people should know that we are not talking about it because it is fashionable, but that it is affordable on the longrun, but it is good for the environment, our health and finance,” he noted.
