Enugu assures mortgage bank of favourable business environment

Enugu State government has assured Platinum Mortgage Bank of favourable business environment in the Coal City, stressing that genuine and potential investors in the state  are given adequate protection of their lives and businesses.

Sullivan Chime, the governor of the state, who gave this assurance at the inauguration of the mortgage bank’s new office in the state, added that, as a matter of policy, the state would continue to create investment friendly environment for investors to do business in the state.

The governor who was represented at the event by Amechi Okolo, the Secretary to the State Government, affirmed government’s continued support for investors in the state, adding that  the enabling  environment created by the state government was aimed at  ensuring that “Enugu does not only retain its status as a regional capital but also enhance the economic growth of its people”.

Earlier in his speech at the inauguration, Emmanuel N Mbaka, the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, had disclosed their plan to build over 10,000 housing units for the benefit of civil servants and the general public at affordable price.

In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay on the sideline of the event, Mbaka, informed that each of the housing units would be given out at the cost of N7 million to N8 million, commending Enugu State government for providing enabling environment for the bank to operate in the state by giving them 20 hectares of land for an initial take off that will accommodate about 400 housing units.

“The 400 hundred housing units are expected to be completed within 12 calendar months and they are aimed at reducing accommodation challenges faced by civil servants and the general public in the state”, he said, calling on civil servants and other members of the public to key into the programme to enable them own houses of their own without much stress.

According to the managing director, Platinum had made marks in estate developments in various parts of the country mainly Abuja, Lagos, Makurdi, Nassarawa among other states where most of the buildings are now being occupied by civil servants, saying that their objective was to provide about 150,000 houses within the next five years as their contribution to the housing programme.

He noted that Nigeria has about 17 million housing deficit, hence the need for developers to be encouraged by providing favourable environment to enable them to provide housing for the people.