Lekki Gardens provides insight into successful real estate investment

In the past decade, the real estate sector of the Nige- rian economy has seen immense investment, but, arguably, quite a sizeable percent of these investments has not been successful due largely to a number of fac- tors, which Richard Nyong, Lekki Gardens CEO, has provided explanations for.

Fabulous profit or return on investment is almost always the first consider- ation of any investor, real estate developers inclusive, but Nyong said at an inves- tors forum (Lekki Gadrens Investors Forum) hosted by his company, Tuesday, that such consideration was a faulty step, insisting that an investor must place passion for his business above profit.

Since the past six-seven years when the company settled for real estate busi- ness, it has seen what could be described as growth trajectory that has seen it deliver to the marketplace, as of today, 15,000 housing units of different typologies, up from only 2,000 units only three years ago, all in a country where business en- vironment is not only hostile but also crippling.

The company, within this period, provided hous- ing for over 4,500 families with an additional 10,000 in the pipeline, provided direct jobs for 350 persons and 10,000 indirect jobs, and Nyong attributed these successful stories to love for the customer, financial discipline, capacity build- ing, understanding how the business works, among other factors.

He said an investor must love his prospective buyers enough to price his product in a way that it was afford- able, adding that “such love is an emotional business attachment an investor has for the buyer.”

Nyong, who has an ambi- tious projection of delivering 30,000 housing units in the next two years and one mil- lion in the next five years, ad- vised that for any developer to do well in his business, he has to sit down and do some brain work, do some hard work and be prepared to take the fall.

Speaking on the theme of the forum, ‘Unlocking Investment Opportunities in the Nigerian Real Estate Market’ from the media per- spective, Frank Aigbogun, publisher/CEO, Business- Day Media Limited, said “the market has huge op- portunities,” estimating the value of the opportunities at $385 billion.

Aigbogun also highlighted some of the potential of the market, pointing out that based on existing demand, it could accommodate over one million housing units consis- tently for the next 20 years.

CHUKA UROKO