Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, IFC Agree to Partner on Reforms and Affordable Housing Delivery in Nigeria
• Sets up Technical Committee to Develop Framework for Comprehensive Partnership Agreement
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have agreed to deepen collaboration towards the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Action Plan for Housing and Urban Development in Nigeria. The Ministry’s Plan comprises housing reforms and initiatives which aim to deliver decent, affordable, and quality housing to Nigerians across all income segments.
This was revealed during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the IFC, led by Dr. Dahlia Khalifa - Regional Director, Central Africa and Anglophone West Africa, to the Minister at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday 24th October 2023,
Represented by the Minister of State, Alhaji Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa underscored the important work of the IFC in providing funding for developmental projects across Africa but noted that Nigeria was yet to maximise its partnership with the body, especially in the area of housing and urban development.
“I am aware that the ministry has had several interactions and engagements with the IFC in the past. However, it seems that we have not maximized our partnership with the IFC to empower private developers and the ministry to deliver at significant scale decent and affordable housing to Nigerians. Upon reviewing your 2023 Annual Report, I noticed that the IFC has committed over $128.3 billion in loans, grants, investments, and guarantees to partner countries and private businesses. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the report indicates that the IFC committed over $38.6 billion. What remains unclear to me is the specific amount of this investment that flowed into Nigeria, both for the country and private businesses” Dangiwa said.
He noted that the focus and priorities of the new government require an enhanced and expanded partnership with the IFC. “We are determined to realize the bold vision of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for housing and urban development. As the drivers of His Excellency’s vision at the Ministry, we are intent on implementing a Comprehensive Framework for the Reform of the Housing and Urban Sector in the country”, he noted.
Speaking further, the Minister reeled out the action plan of the ministry to include strengthening the institutional capacity of agencies under its supervision including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), increasing the 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. Others include establishing Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs across the country, implementing a Nationwide Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading programme, as well as the development of New Cities that are integrated, inclusive using a demand driven strategy that will ensure prompt offtake of units built.
“At the end of this meeting, we would like the IFC and our team to work out a Structured Actionable framework that would see the Ministry and IFC sign a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement on Housing and Urban Development covering all areas of IFC's interventions related to housing and urban development. We would expect this agreement to state what the IFC can do to assist us in achieving our housing and urban development plans, as well as the Ministry's responsibilities”, he added.
Senior Country Manager of the IFC, Kalim Shah noted that housing is 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 is doing and see how the group can 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’re 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, Senior Investment Officer, Public-Private Partnership of IFC, Alexander Leigh, said the corporation will be looking to engage more with the ministry in a bid to identify the specific needs that they have, so that they can provide solutions that are tailored to such needs. 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, expressing optimism in the ministry’s efforts to address such issues.
The minister reiterated the ministry’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive. “Particularly, the Ministry, like the IFC, views the private sector as a key partner in our efforts to increase access to affordable housing for Nigerians. A key part of our strategy is to create an enabling environment for increased private-sector investment in housing and urban development. Therefore, we seek a partnership with the IFC that enables more of our private developers to access funding through IFC mechanisms. While we work towards an agreement, in the interim, we propose that our teams collaborate to develop modalities for a Ministry-sponsored Workshop. This workshop will facilitate a meeting between the IFC and our private developers to explain the procedures for accessing finance to drive their projects. In this new era, we want more Nigerian developers to access funding using the mechanism of the IFC,” he said.
He further assured the corporation of the ministry’s commitment to transparency and accountability in their dealings. “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.
