New FMBN Leadership Tackling Housing Deficit with Innovative Tools
On assumption of office, President Bola Tinubu highlighted his plan to provide decent and affordable housing to Nigerians, setting the ball rolling with strategic actions. With the new leadership at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), this plan appears to be coming to a reality, writes Emmanuel Addeh.
From demerging the Ministry of Works and Housing and creating a new Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, to strategic appointments of experts to the new ministry, as well as continuously re-echoing his administration’s commitment to this vision, the federal government appears to be leaving no one in doubt about its belief that housing is a right that every Nigerian deserves.
The appointment of Ahmed Dangiwa as Minister and Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo as Minister of State signalled the dawn of a new era for the sector. In his first few days in office, the minister would prioritised increasing the capacities and efficiency of federal housing agencies in order to effectively drive his action plan. Chief among these agencies was the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
As a cornerstone agency of the Nigerian housing sector, the FMBN was among other bodies and industry players inaugurated into the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team and the Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team, two of the four Reform Task Teams set up by the federal government to help develop frameworks for the implementation of the broad plans of the ministry.
Dangiwa had, during the Bank’s 2024 Management Retreat, noted that the “FMBN must transform, must innovate, and must lead a new era of massive housing development and delivery even in difficult times of high construction costs and low incomes.
He added: “This requires a radically new mindset, thinking out of the box and identifying the opportunities that these challenges present,” setting the stage for the changes that were to come.
Just as Nigerians revelled in the largely hailed appointment of Dangiwa and Abdullahi Gwarzo as ministers, considering their antecedents and evident track records of exceeding expectations, the president went ahead to approve a change of leadership for the housing agencies under the ministry, as part of efforts to reform housing institutions for enhanced effectiveness.
New Management Team at FMBN
Recognising the pivotal position of the FMBN in the actualisation of his administration’s deliverables for housing and in swift response to the call by the minister to reform housing institutions, Tinubu on February 15, 2024 approved the appointment of Shehu Osidi, alongside three other experts, to take over the affairs of the country’s apex mortgage institution as the new management team.
Osidi, a former employee of the Bank, with a track record of innovative initiatives and outstanding performance, has contributed over 30 years of service to the banking, mortgage finance and housing sectors. A cursory look at his profile reveals his steady rise to the pinnacle of his career, leading to his eventual appointment to head the Bank.
To support Shehu Osidi on the task, President Tinubu appointed Ibidapo Odijukan as Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services; Dr. Muhammad Sani Abdu as Executive Director, Loans and Mortgage Services; and Chinenye Chinedu Anosike as Executive Director, Business Development and Portfolio Management.
Odojukan comes to the Bank with over 25 years transformational leadership in the private and public sectors, having held both Executive and Non-Executive positions and managed an array of projects and programmes for organisations. He is acclaimed for creating sustainable value in organisations and driving effective and efficient delivery of projects and programmes in relation to time and budget.
Abdu, a seasoned academic, town planner, politician and housing expert, boasts about 53 years experience and had served in the Nigerian House of Representatives on two terms as Member representing Alkaleri/Kirfi Federal Constituency. He has contributed and continues to contribute immensely to housing policy development and delivery.
Chinenye is a banking professional with over 22 years of experience in marketing leadership, people development and management, relationship management, turnaround management and credit analysis. With her wealth of experience, she has been pulled in to drive the business development component of the Bank.
Seven-Point Agenda
Barely a month after receiving the baton of leadership, the new Executive Management team of FMBN led by Osidi, obviously aware of the task ahead, introduced its plans and priorities to guide the focus of the Bank.
This was aimed at achieving the broader vision of the Renewed Hope Agenda for housing. With a focus on efficiency, accessibility, and affordability, the seven-point agenda aims to streamline processes and enhance the delivery of housing solutions to Nigerians within the medium and low income brackets.
The items on the agenda are: Deepening Process Automation, Promoting Cost Efficiency, Enhancing Credit Quality/ Reducing Non-Performing Loans, Effective Project Management, Expanding Strategic Partnerships, Enthroning a Robust Organizational/Employee Performance Management System and Standardized Capacity Building/Talent Management.
By implementing the ambitious seven-point agenda, FMBN aimed to usher in a new era of housing development characterised by efficiency, accessibility, and affordability.
The complete transition to digital platforms as envisioned with the first point on the agenda, will simplify application processes, reduce bureaucracy and improve transparency in the Bank’s operation processes.
With a commitment to innovation and collaboration, the new management of the Bank, through its seven-point agenda, continues to address the housing deficit and improve the quality of life for millions of Nigerians, especially those within the low- and medium-income brackets.
The Managing Director of the Bank has also continued to reiterate his commitment to delivering holistically on the bank’s mandate of providing affordable mortgages to drive homeownership among Nigerians of low and medium incomes, with the overall focus of deepening the housing finance and mortgage sector towards improved contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), enhanced homeownership among Nigerians, wealth creation and economic prosperity, as well as drastic reduction of the housing deficit in the country. The seven-point agenda was put in place to guide and drive this vision and ensure success.
Strides and Future Trajectory
In May, the bank was in Kano state where the Managing Director handed over cheques worth a total of N236.9 million to 299 Kano state civil servants as Home Renovation Loan beneficiaries. Results released by the bank show that a total of N9.92 billion was disbursed as loans between January and March 2024, bringing the total loan amount so far disbursed by the bank to N435.794 billion.
Within the same quarter, a total of 12,915 beneficiaries who have retired from active service received their NHF Refunds totalling N4.428 billion, out of which nearly 50 per cent (N2.024 billion for 6,528 retirees) was disbursed in March 2024 alone. This is a clear indication of the vigour and passion with which the current management is driving the housing agenda since coming on board in February 2024.
Of particular note, the Bank, in support of the federal government’s Renewed Hope Cities and Estate Programme, is providing N100 billion in off-taker guarantee for the project, as well as committing to provide mortgage loans and Rent-to-Own facilities to qualified contributors to access the homes.
With regards to automation of all banking processes, they led the deployment of the Core Banking Application to 95 per cent completion level leading to faster, easier, more efficient, and transparent operations at the bank.
Driving Diaspora Mortgage
In line with its commitment to innovation, the new management team has taken steps to introduce solutions and products to address existing gaps in affordable housing delivery efforts. This is evident in its resolute approach to kick-start the Diaspora Mortgage Loan Product as quickly as possible. Though an initiative of the current Minister of Housing and Urban Development when he served as Chief Executive of FMBN, the current management has gone ahead to map out modalities for its implementation, collaborating effectively with all relevant stakeholders including NiDCOM and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The product is specifically designed for Nigerians living abroad to be a part of the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme. By contributing to the scheme consistently for a period of at least six months, a Diasporan subscriber qualifies for a mortgage loan of up to N50 million at a competitive interest rate of 9% per annum.
Rental Assistance Loan
The Rental Assistance Loan Product is an innovative product created by the Osidi-led management to cater to the bulk of the Nigerian population who still live in rented apartments. The reality is, not every Nigerian will have their own home, as great as that is.
Therefore, the Bank is introducing the Rental product to assist contributors to the scheme with payment of the rent to the tune of N2 Million annually, depending on the income of the beneficiary. The product is specifically meant for members of the informal sector and repayment can be done monthly but must be completed within one year from disbursement.
Although yet to be released into the market due to final touches, the excitement that has greeted the product is one that shows how much impact it will have on Nigerians who are contributors to the scheme. This represents another remarkable effort of the current leadership to widen the net of beneficiaries and make the Bank more needs-based.
Collaborations and Partnerships
The Bank has continued to deepen and expand strategic partnerships with relevant local and foreign organizations to further its interests and deliver on its mandate. Already, the Bank has commenced engagements with the Board and Management of Shelter Afrique Development Bank and has set up a bilateral committee to catalyse this.
Also, recently, the Kano State Government committed to the resumption of the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme after two decades of abandoning the scheme. This came about following strategic engagements by the Bank’s new management and Kano State Advisory Committee on Participation of the state’s Civil Servants in the NHF Scheme.
Additionally, the new management has held meetings with Kaduna State University for the Academia Housing Project for staff of the University and the Federal Housing Authority to identify areas of synergy towards collectively achieving the Federal Government’s vision for the housing sector.
The Bank is also working with the Nasarawa State Government towards housing delivery in the State, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) as well as Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN)
Not forgetting the Bank’s engagements with the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) which is aimed at providing housing opportunities for Nigerians outside the shores of the country. In a recent meeting between the management team of the Bank and the Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, it was revealed that six continents are set to commence enrolment into the Diaspora Mortgage Scheme.
With plans to launch the product soon, the dream of homeownership in Nigeria by Nigerians in the Diaspora is set to be actualised.
From the foregoing, it appears clear that FMBN’s new management led by Osidi is fully aligned with the vision of President Bola Tinubu for the housing sector, as driven by the minister, Ahmed Dangiwa, to provide decent and affordable housing to Nigerians.
