The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), says it is ready to refinance affordable houses for Nigerians at the rate of N1.5 million.
This was announced by the NMRC Managing Director, Prof. Charles Inyangete, in a press conference jointly held by the AUHF and NMRC in Abuja on Monday to unveil the union’s 2016 conference.
NMRC is co-host of the African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) 2016 conference.
The 2016 AUHF 32nd annual conference is to be held in Abuja which will commence on Sept. 14 and to end on Sept.16, 2016.
AUHF is an association of 56 Mortgage Banks, Building Societies, Microfinance Institutions, Housing Corporations and organisations, involved in mobilisation of funds for shelter and housing in Africa.
Inyangete said that the NMRC was ready to refinance houses at N1.5 million if permitted by technology to drive the process of delivering affordable housing through practical solution in Nigeria.
“It will first of all drive down the affordability because the prices of houses in Nigeria are particularly very high,’’ he said.
Inyangete decried the extent of inequality created by the crisis of affordable housing on the African continent, adding that a practical solution for sustainable housing should be encouraged.
According to him, the three day conference have been designed to reflect a balance between the need to craft policies that could drive sustainable affordable housing finance on the African continent.
Inyangete further said that the conference would bring together practitioners and investors in African and beyond to share, learn from the network with the best in the world on housing finance.
“The outcome of the conference in the form of “Abuja Declaration’’ will feed into the work of AU’s Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Unit of the Africa Delegation to Habitat III meeting, in Equador in October 2016.
“The conference will also explore how to grow Africa’s mortgage markets to provide sustainable access to affordable housing finance as well as public-private partnership for affordable housing delivery’’. He added.
He said the conference will try to assess the capacity of housing micro-finance with housing micro-finance academy hosted by Lafarge Holcim and French Development Agency.
Chairman, AUHF, Mr Oscar Mgaya, (who is also the Managing Director of Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company) pointed out problems associated with housing cost, low income earners, mortgages, interest rates and others issues would also be addressed accordingly.
The Chairman said, a country’s monetary and fiscal policy play major role in determining the interest rate.
He stressed the need to provide some subsidy as a mechanism for builders to build affordable houses.
Accoring to him, the purpose of the conference, is to bring together housing practitioners and leading leading policy makers from the private and public sector to discuss issues of housing finance facing the sector.
More than 170 confirmed participants, representing about 23 African countries, state governors, foreign technical experts, are expected to attend the conference.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, is expected to deliver the keynote address which will unveil the road map to develop the housing sector.
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