By Perpetua Onuegbu
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Continental Civil and General Construction Company Limited and Ceezali Limited to build 100,000 housing units nationwide.
Dangiwa while signing the the MoU in Abuja on Thursday said the housing units were to be delivered under a Strategic Public Private Partnership (PPP) as part of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Program.
According to him the terms of this partnership dictates that the Consortium will provide construction finance and build the housing units to completion based on agreed housing designs and prices.
“The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will facilitate provision of affordable mortgage loans to offtakers through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
“It will also facilitate the approval and the grant of legal titles of select lands for the projects across the country as part of its efforts to create an enabling environment in order to massively upscale private sector investment in the housing sector.
“Target beneficiaries are Nigerians in both the public and private sectors of the economy.
“The 100,000 Renewed Hope Housing Project is to be implemented in two phases.
“Phase One will deliver 20,000 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while Phase Two will deliver 80,000 houses in select locations across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“At 25 jobs per unit, this PPP arrangement will create 2,500,000 direct and indirect jobs helping to achieve His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s target to lift 100million Nigerians out of poverty,” Dangiwa said.
Speaking further, he said the housing problem that Nigeria faced was massive and ensuring increased access to decent and affordable housing was a collective endeavor.
He said that the MoU been signed was for housing units to be developed in FCT adding that the next one would be in Lagos.
“It is a patriotic job that requires the contribution, and active participation of all stakeholders across the entire housing value chain.
“We recognize that we cannot tackle Nigeria’s housing problem from government budgetary allocation.
“So, we have prioritised Public Private Partnerships as effective tools for complementing government efforts to bridge the housing deficit which requires trillions of naira to fix.
“These partnerships enable leveraging the strengths of both the public and private sectors, fostering innovation, efficiency, and increased access to funding.
“By combining the resources, expertise, and creativity of both sectors, we plan to facilitate the development of affordable housing, infrastructure, and sustainable communities that align with the diverse needs of our populace.
“Our long-term goal is to address the housing shortage and enhance the quality of life of our citizens.” The minister said.
Speaking also at Mr Damola Akindoliye, Principal Partner consortium said the project had been designed with several affordable housing models to have the one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
“Also the project has been audited to have edge standards which means we have a clear focus not just to deliver buildings but deliver buildings in a sustainable manner.
” Which is what the current COP 28 is all about means that Nigeria is taking leadership in Africa we are complying with these expectations.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that COP 28 actually means Conference of Parties held every year talks are held about reducing the impact of climate change the last on was held in Dubai.
“This project will also be sited across the six geopolitical zones where we will have the renewed hope cities that consist of 1000 housing units and above.
“Our goal is for us to establish our footprints in all the 36 states of the federation,” Akindoliye said.
He explained that the project was well equipped and had the support of several funding agencies who had committed their resources to the project.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)