The Abuja International Housing Show is Africa’s Largest Housing and Construction event known to be the hub and meeting point of leading brands and prospects within the Housing and construction sector within and outside Africa at large.
Running for over 13years, the show’s 14th edition scheduled to hold between July 21st and 24th has been announced to be a virtual exhibition and conference which would be host participants from all over the world.
Speaking recently on the need for Nigeria’s housing sector to evolve and utilize the full potentials of Digital technology, Mr. John Olubayo, CEO Diaspora Realty explains that the Digital AIHS 2020 has taken a leap into the virtual world and would no doubt exceed expectations in terms of operational excellence and unmatchable standards in Africa’s Housing and Construction history.
Olubayo spoke as a guest panellist at a webinar recently held by the Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), with the theme: “Imperatives Of Virtual Exhibitions: The Case of Digital AIHS 2020.
In his words, “the emergence of the digital version of the Abuja International Housing Show is a welcomed development and for people who are really interested in trying to grow their market. A digital version of things just ticks so many boxes that I hope a lot of people will avail themselves of the opportunity”.
According to him, the Real Estate industry in Nigeria is yet to fully harness and utilize the multifaceted opportunities available through digitizing the operations, processes and activities within the housing sector and there is the need for the sector to be digitally proactive.
“Some people have argued that real estate industry essentially, in comparison to its peers, is a digital dinosaur. We’re pretty much far behind several other Industries in terms of the adoption of technology.
“It is important for the real estate industry to be digitally proactive. We need to be able to see how we can adopt technology to provide solutions to customers. It’s covid-19 today, we don’t know what’s going to be tomorrow, although nobody is paying for any terrible thing. But we need to begin to see even now how we can adopt technology in such a way that will make things easier and simpler for the people” he said.
He emphasized the importance of digitization, for every stakeholder in the industry, while stressing on the need to key into the AIHS 2020 virtual exhibition and conference stating that “The digital version of the Abuja International Housing Show is a very timely initiative. Adopting a digital strategy and creating a digital platform is probably the most cost-effective way for people who live in other parts of the world to go about reaching new Markets.”
While talking about the array of options available to the Digital AIHS 2020 participants in connecting to the digital platform, Olubayo said “As we are looking forward excitedly to the event coming up. It’s a great thing that we are taking the AIHS 2020 digital. The good thing about the event is that it allows people to connect at different levels.
“So even in terms of internet connectivity, for those that may not have the bandwidth to do video, they will be able to do audio, if they can’t do audio, there is still the good old fashioned chat which doesn’t consume much data. So the event gives people the opportunity to connect with their customers and their interested exhibitors at different levels and using different platforms.
He however noted that many Nigerians in the diaspora are interested in Nigeria’s property market and the Digital AIHS 2020 affords such interested investors and developers the platform and opportunity to have unlimited access to the Nigerian market.
“There are so many Nigerians who live abroad who are interested in the property market in Nigeria. Given that we are adopting a digital platform creates a much wider audience. People from all parts of the world can have access to property developers, products and people can digitally access the information they need make their decisions. Essentially what people are looking for is information – information they need to make probably the most of their life in terms of buying a house” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Abuja International Housing Show, who has also been the moderator of HDAN’s webinar series, Barr. Festus Adebayo, announced through the platform that henceforth, the show would be held as both a virtual and physical exhibition and conference, at different times annually, in other to allow for the participation of a global audience.
