Shelter Afrique. Invests 22bn on housing in Nigeria

A pan-African finance company, Shelter Afrique, has spent over N22.51bn on housing initiatives in Nigeria, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. BabatundeFashola has said.

In a statement made available to our correspondent, the minister said that between 2005 and 2010, Shelter Afrique in Nigeria had financed 23 initiatives with a total sum of N10.435bn ($52,175,000) and another N12.08bn ($60,400,000) over the last three years on 10 interventions.

“Of these initiatives, 15 represented lending for construction of housing projects, out of which the largest was for $7m for 376 houses of different types; and 251 service plots, followed by 287 mixed housing units for a cooperative society; 55 housing units and 100 service plots and the least was for 16 maisonettes. This is the intervention on the supply side of housing to provide houses,” he said.

He added that the remaining eight interventions were for mortgage financing to building societies, credit line for individual mortgages and related financing, on the demand side of housing, to provide finance.

Fashola said that out of the 10 interventions in the last three years, seven were for housing construction, including 287 units, 90 units, 15 floor commercial complex, 59 housing units, 300 housing units, 130 apartments and 44 housing units.

“The remaining three interventions were for equity investment in the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company of about $3m; and credit lines for on-lending for mortgage totalling $13m,” he said.

The minister said, over the years, the country had embarked on a series of housing initiatives but not one of them had been pursued with consistency or any measurable sustainability.

He added that the unsustainable efforts must change, and give way to a sustainable and well thought out initiative led by the government and subsequently driven by the private sector.

He said, “The first key to our roadmap in housing therefore is planning. We must never be tired to explain the necessity and importance of proper planning. It is the key to successful execution; it is the key to project completion; it is the key to cost control and reduction in variation requests and financial calculations.

“A plan is what is needed and it is what we are currently developing to make the housing policy a reality. Our plan requires first a clear understanding of who we want to provide housing for.”

Naira Drops To 367/Dollar Over Forex Policy Panic

Uncertainty over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s planned exchange rate policy has continued to rattle the foreign exchange market.

The local currency dropped against the United States dollar from 365 to 367 at the parallel market on Monday.

The naira, which has been under persistent pressure, fell to 371 last week before appreciating to 365.

Analysts linked the continued pressure on the naira against the greenback to the CBN’s prolonged delay in releasing the blueprint or details of the planned forex policy.

Economists, analysts and foreign exchange dealers have said the naira will appreciate significantly at the parallel market as soon as the CBN releases details of the planned forex policy.

They said the naira might plummet further against the dollar this week as the shortage of the greenback worsens.

The President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, however, said the black market rate might strengthen if the official one was weakened and inflows from investors picked up.

He said, “The naira may trade around 300 to a dollar on the black market after the announcement, because we expect supply to improve.

“In the past weeks, the central bank had created doubt in the market, which triggered another round of speculation.”

The CBN Monetary Policy Committee had a few weeks ago said it would abandon its naira peg to the dollar and introduce a flexible currency regime.

It has not given how this will work and this has unsettled investors who are worried about getting caught in the middle of a devaluation.

The delay has, however, caused the stock market to record huge losses after recording landmark gains following the announcement of the plan to adopt the policy.

The central bank banned dollar sales to retail Bureaux De Change in January and reduced supply at its official interbank forex market in an effort to conserve reserves, now at their lowest level.

The World Bank had last Tuesday cut Nigeria’s economic growth forecast for this year, citing weakness from oil output disruptions, low prices and the CBN’s foreign exchange restrictions.

The lender, in its semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report, said Africa’s biggest economy was expected to grow by 0.8 per cent, down from an estimate of 4.6 percent in January.