Nigeria Partners Shelter Afrique to Deliver 5,000 Housing Units

The federal government in partnership with Shelter Afrique Development (ShafDB) is set to deliver 5000 housing units as part of effort to provide housing for Nigerians. 

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, made this known while speaking on the achievements of the ministry within one year in office.

“Under the partnership, the Pan-African housing institution will support the Renewed Hope Program with advisory services and financing of competent developers. We are looking at about 5,000 housing units in the pilot scheme.

“This will be the first time the ministry is entering into such a practical and direct partnership with a multi-lateral institution for the construction of homes for Nigerians. Nigeria is the second largest shareholder in ShafDB after Kenya with over $29 million share subscription,’’ he said.

Dangiwa promised to explore all possible housing financing options to tackle the massive housing deficit that faced the country.

He recalled that upon assuming office, an action plan was developed in line with the priorities and deliverables of President Bola Tinubu.

The action plan, according to him, was to guide the ministry in implementing reforms and initiatives to increase access to affordable housing and unlock the potential in the housing sector.

“We may not have the financial war chest, but we have to leverage as a government. For too long, we have failed to maximize our relationships with bilateral and multi-lateral institutions, including those that we have substantial interests.

“We have seen where smaller African countries are taking advantage of these housing development institutions to boost housing for their citizens while we simply watch. Within this one year, we have taken steps to change this,” he said.

Dangiwa said over the past one-year, substantial progress had been recorded and the ministry was exploring a partnership with the World Bank on land reform, specifically, the implementation of a National Land Titling Programme.

“Through this programme, we aim to partner with State Governments towards improving land formalization from the less than 10 per cent to 50 per cent, in the next ten years.

“The government, through the Ministry aims to establish a comprehensive, efficient, and accessible land registration system across Nigeria in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.

Dangiwa said that progress has been made in fixing issues on the Federal Land Information System (FELIS), adding that the digital system was created to centralize records on federal government land.

He said that substantial progress had also been made in increasing the stock of affordable and decent housing stock for Nigerians.