The new President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Dr. Aliyu Wammako has made a call for the urgent recapitalization and streamlining of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
Wammako made the call at his Investiture as the 4th President of REDAN on Wednesday in Abuja.
Wammako stated that he FMBN had a low capital in the area of five billion naira with other institutions pegging about eight billion according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s indices, and that its inadequacy make the provision of more homes a herculean task for real estate developers.
He advised the Federal Government to look into the challenges of housing development and the underlying responsibilities of the FMBN in providing affordable houses for Nigerians.
He stressed on the importance of the FMBN in Nigeria especially as the cost of building materials where escalating, and the purchasing power of real estate developers were diminishing, hence the urgent need for total recapitalization of the bank.
He remarked that Real Estate development contributed to about 6.4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, and that it was very important to consider recapitalization and streamlining the FMBN for the development of the housing sector.
He commended the FMBN having the lowest interest rate of six percent, and advocated for cheaper mortgage rates that would further create jobs and provide more affordable houses in Nigeria.
He said that the only way the housing sector would be properly and effectively developed, and the housing deficit reduced, was with the capitalization of the FMBN and that REDAN could not do anything about it.
Wammako urged the government to understand the implications of strengthening the FMBN by recapitalizing it so as to facilitate the demand and supply of affordable houses in Nigeria.
