Fashola said this in his opening remarks during the 42nd
Annual General Meeting/ Symposium of Shelter Afrique, in Abuja, on Monday.
Shelter Afrique was a company set up with the aim of
financing affordable housing for Africa.
The minister explained that from a contribution of $5.9
million in 2016, $9.3million in 2020 and another &7.1 million in 2022,
Nigeria’s total contributions totaled $22.5 million.
Fashola said, “This brings Nigeria’s shareholding in the
company to 15.80 percent (now) valued at $30,724,961.00.
“For a company that was struggling for funding in 2016, this
was a much-needed injection of life-restoring capital and I must say that other
member states have responded in kind.
“Beyond financial capital, Nigeria has also contributed the
most important capital – The human capital, by offering Mr. Femi Adewole, to
provide interim leadership for the company at perhaps its most turbulent
period.
“With this background as we convene today I can say with a
measure of confidence that for Shelter Afrique, the dark clouds are gone, and a
bright new future of renewed hope lies ahead, especially with the leadership
provided by our company’s Board and management led respectively by Dr Chii
Akporji and Mr Thierno-Habib Hann.
“On the domestic front, I am also pleased to report an
increasing private sector participation in the delivery of an assortment of
housing types for low- and high-income demand.
“With their control over land, within our Federal constitutional
arrangement, State Governments are playing their roles in the supply of housing
from Abia to Zamfara.
“These contributions to increasing housing supply are
complemented by the Federal Government with initiatives such as the National
Housing Programme that has delivered houses across 35 states and the Federal
Capital Territory Abuja, complemented by the Federal Housing Estates across our
six geo-political zones, and the Federal Mortgage Bank, Ministerial housing
scheme and Co-Operative Housing initiatives across the 36 states of our
country.”
He further said, “By the collective action of our member
states and our development partners, we have surmounted very difficult
challenges, some of which threatened the continued existence of our company.
“With every sense of modesty I am happy to announce that my
country, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has played a commendable role in that
collective action.
“Let me report some policy and process reforms that have
been initiated or implemented since 2016.
“One of them is the removal of the condition for a 10%
equity contribution by a mortgage applicant from the Federal Mortgage Bank for
a Mortgage of N5 Million and below; and the reduction of the 15% equity
contribution to 10% for mortgage applicants over N5 Million.
“This has helped to remove and reduce some of the barriers
for access to funding for housing purposes.
“Because access to land is also critical to complement
funding, between the period 2016 and today, we have undertaken and completed a
full digitization of the Federal Lands Registry.”
Speaking earlier, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of
the company, Dr. Chii Akporji, said, “Despite the global economic slowdown, 53
of Africa’s 54 countries posted positive growth. The growth of the economy in
Sub-Saharan Africa was expected to slow down from 4.1 percent the year before
to 3.3 percent.”
According to her, despite the numerous challenges, this
period presented, SHAF’s resilience continued to show with multiple housing
projects funded and commissioned across the continent.
Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director of the
company, Mr. Thierno-Habib Hann, said, “We are currently navigating a period
afflicted with global recession while nations are reeling from shocks in
geopolitics, energy and economics.
“So, we need to turn our attention to the dynamics of the
African housing market.”