Expectation high as NMRC, AUHF confab seeks solution to housing problem

Expectation is high among Nigerians that when experts gather for the three-day African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) Conference to be hosted by the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) in Abuja, Nigeria, ideas will be generated for solution to the sector’s problems not only in Nigeria, but in Africa as a whole.

The conference which begins tomorrow expects experts and practitioners of housing and finance from across the continent and the rest of the world who will be deliberating on the state of the sector and proffer solutions for its growth in order to unlock its multiplier effects on national economies.

AUHF is a 55-member association of mortgage banks, building societies, housing corporations and other organisations working on the mobilisation of funds for shelter and housing on the African continent, with the goal of promoting housing finance in Africa.

Its annual conferences and AGM are highly in-demand platforms for brainstorming and knowledge sharing on developments in the sector for identifying new housing investment opportunities, generating new business, and promote related products and services. The NMRC is honoured to have been selected as local hosts for this year’s conference.

NMRC is a private sector-driven mortgage refinancing company with the public purpose of promoting home ownership for Nigerians by raising long term funds in the capital market to provide affordable housing finance to Nigerians. Its vision is to be the dominant housing partner in Nigeria, with a mission to break down barriers to home ownership by providing liquidity, affordability, accessibility and stability to the housing market in Nigeria.

The company is working with other local partners such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN) and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority to ensure a very successful outing for the Nigerian housing sector at the Conference.

Expected speakers include housing finance experts from Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, and others from India, China, and Brazil. These will be complemented by institutional level representatives of the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the China-Africa Development Fund, and UN-HABITAT.

The conference will host a Housing Investment Marketplace, which will connect development finance institutions, investors, and housing practitioners, offering the opportunity for face-to-face meetings to discuss possible affordable housing finance projects and initiatives.

Investors that have already registered to attend the marketplace include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), China-Africa Development Fund, UK CDC, Lion’s Head Global Partners, Cantor Fitzgerald LP and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and his Finance counterpart, Kemi Adeosun, will be leading discussions at the conference. While Fashola will deliver the keynote address on the first day of the conference, Adeosun will lead the plenary session on the second day.

CHUKA UROKO