The lack of housing finance is one of the reasons Nigerian capital market has not grown as it should, FMDQ’s Chief Executive Officer, Bola Onadele, has said.
According to him, the nation should be talking of 30-year mortgages for Nigerians rather than what is obtainable now.
He pointed out that If the government wants 70 per cent of the people to own their own houses, they can’t be asked to borrow at 20 per cent interest rate.
In a report by Bloomberg, the FMDQ’s chief executive officer said his organisation would be intervening to encourage more investments in Nigeria’s capital market.
According to him, the FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc is finalising plans that will involve the construction of new homes across the country through the use of mortgages.
Onadele disclosed that his organisation had been working in conjunction with regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the National Pension Commission in this regard.
Besides, he said his organisation was also partnering the International Finance Corporation to develop a blueprint that will be delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari next year.
He noted that Nigeria had a very small number of mortgage loans; 50, 000 to be specific.
Considering such factors as the country’s large population size, widespread poverty and increasing urbanisation, lack of adequate funding for home ownership (through loans), Oladele said, had resulted in housing deficit to the tune of 17 million.
On the way forward, he said that FMDQ expected that its proposed blueprint would capture important business-friendly policies, which the government can implement towards addressing the problems.
“One of such policies is the facilitation of single-digit interest rates,” Onadele said, explaining that doing this would help encourage the inflow of both foreign and local capital.
Onadele stated that FMDQ is also working towards attracting more foreign investors on its own, by playing the role of a central counterparty clearing house and reducing possible risks faced by investors.
FMDQ’s new strategy is expected to help build new homes and spur investments.
Source: newtelegraphng
