FG mulls establishment of building material hubs
The Federal government has disclosed its plans to establish building materials manufacturing hubs nationwide to actualize the Action Plan for housing and urban development.
The establishment of the hub, which the FG said was in line with the ministry’s housing reform initiatives, was aimed at delivering decent, affordable, and quality housing to Nigerians across all income segments.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Ahmed Dangiwa, disclosed this recently during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the International Financial Corporation (IFC), led by Dr. Dahlia Khalifa – Regional Director, Central Africa, and Anglophone West Africa, in Abuja.
Represented by the Minister of State, Alhaji Abdullahi Gwarzo, Dangiwa said: “Establishing Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs across the country, implementing a Nationwide Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading programme is one of the actionable strategies to achieve the renewed hope agenda in housing development.
“Also, the development of New Cities that are integrated and inclusive, using a demand-driven strategy that will ensure prompt offtake of units built,” he said.
The minister further listed other strategies put in place to achieve the renewed hope agenda including strengthening the institutional capacity of agencies under its supervision including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
Dangiwa added that plans to increase the risk of supply of decent and affordable housing, establishing a National Social Housing Fund (NSHF), and implementing land reforms to enhance easy and cost-effective access to land were also in place.
He commended the work of the IFC in providing funding for developmental projects across Africa.
Dangiwa further assured the corporation of the ministry’s commitment to transparency and accountability in their collaborations.
“Our sole goal is to deliver on Mr. President’s objective of providing decent and quality accommodation to all Nigerians, especially the 80 percent falling within the medium and low segments. We aim to build livable communities and leverage the housing sector to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty”, he said.
Earlier, the Senior Country Manager of the IFC, Mr Kalim Shah, had noted that housing was a major focus of the IFC across Africa where they service both the supply and demand sides of the industry.
He said the purpose of the visit was to understand what the ministry was doing and see how the group could partner and support their efforts to enhance the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerians.
“We see some honest desire on the part of the new government to provide affordable housing to the people, and we’ve come as partners to see how we can support what you’re doing. As an arm of the World Bank, our focus is primarily on private sector investment, so we are looking for areas where we can work with the ministry in line with your vision for decent and affordable housing solutions to Nigerians, “he said.
Also speaking, the Senior Investment Officer, Public-Private Partnership of IFC, Alexander Leigh, said the corporation wished to engage the ministry in a bid to identify the specific areas of need and know how to provide solutions.
He added that the IFC considers factors like access to land and its administration, construction costs, the situation of beneficiaries to occupy the houses, and affordability in its dealings with countries, and expressed excitement at the ministry’s efforts to address such issues.
