Expectations high as Taf Africa Homes delivers, exits N26bn Golf Estate in July

Expectations are high that by the end of the next three months when Taf Africa Homes will be completing the second phase of the N26 billion RivTaf Golf Estate, a new record shall have been set in the history of housing development in Nigeria as the developer will be exiting the estate, leaving its administration and management in the hands of landlords and residents.

Typically in Nigeria, estate developers develop housing estates, sell off the houses and still maintain strong and unyielding hold on the estates as owners and facilities managers, thereby denying buyers free, full and unconditional ownership of the houses they have bought.

Interestingly, Assan Sosseh, Taf Africa Homes’ Regional Manager, thinks differently, contending that “developers are, by their name, estate developers, not estate managers; we will be exiting this project in July this year and will leave the landlords and residents to manage their estate. What we will be leaving behind is the brand we have created here which will be speaking for us long after we are gone”.

RivTaf Golf Estate, a joint venture project between Rivers State government and Taf Africa Homes with RivTaf Nigeria Homes Limited as special purpose vehicle (SPV), is a two-phased estate located in the heart of Port Harcourt and estimated to cost N26 billion upon completion of construction.

The first phase of the estate, which is 95 percent completed and 97 percent sold out, has 700 housing units comprising 608 apartments, 61 terrace or town houses and 32 duplexes, which Sosseh recalls it was unimaginable when they started that they would be able to go this far in just three years.

The residents have already formed an association with a board of trustees (BOT) and management committee and have taken over the management of the estate. They are finalizing a contract arrangement with a facilities management firm to manage the estate on their behalf.

The estate boasts top of the range facilities including a clubhouse which is underway and, according to Sosseh, it will be completed in June this year along with other facilities including a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, events area, offices, etc.

The second phase which sits on 25 hectares of land will, on completion, deliver 250 housing units comprising terraces and duplexes. Already, 110 housing units have been completed with the first batch of residents moved in. There will be a 9-hole golf course plus other amenities such as a man-made beach with bush bar, club house, crèche, sports/recreation areas for tennis court, soccer pitch, etc.

The entire estate enjoys centrally supplied 24-hour electricity from PCHN and a standby generator, central water supply, central sewage management and water treatment station, armed and unarmed security personnel with electric fence round the perimeter of the estate, garbage collection service, lawn and cleaning service, car wash station, etc.

“We have been able to come this far because of our building technology which has speed and ensures proper alignment of block work”, the regional manager says, assuring that the few blocks that remain in the first phase along with on-going developments in the second phase would be delivered by July.

RivTaf Golf Estate is one the of the few foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nigeria and, by all standards, a successful public private partnership (PPP) initiative. Mustapha Njie, Taf Nigeria Homes MD/CEO, notes that “apart from being a reference point as a working PPP in Nigeria, the estate’s strong value proposition in terms of quick and high return on investment as well as wealth generation through job creation makes a whole lot of difference”.

He affirmed the company’s decision to deliver and exit the estate in July this year during an interactive session with a select group of journalists on tour of the facility in Port Harcourt recently, disclosing their intention to explore investment opportunities in other parts of the country, especially Lagos and Abuja.

Njie has strong confidence in the Nigerian economy and, according to him, “my confidence in this market is simply because there is demand; if we could build 600 housing units at Brufut Garden in The Gambia for a population of 1.5 million people, Golf Estate’s 750 housing units in Nigeria for a population of over 160 million people is just a scratch on the surface”.

Though there are challenges in doing all these, Njie is undaunted because, “with my style of business, I see challenges as opportunities; I believe that challenges are other forms of problems and for every problem, there is a solution” .

As one of the leading property development companies with track records in Africa , Taf Africa Homes has presence in The Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Togo and Mozambique, ostensibly because Njie believes in Africa as “the new destination for foreign direct investment having come to a stage where the continent should be taking the lead in investment”.

CHUKA UROKO