NMRC in long term strategy to improve mortgage penetration
The Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Nigeria’s private sector-led secondary mortgage institution with public purpose of increasing liquidity in the mortgage system, says its main focus and long term strategy is on improving mortgage penetration by growing the supply and demand side of housing value-chain.
The company reveals that it has seen some light at the end of the tunnel because housing is now being put very high in the agenda, pointing out that the agenda will allow more affordable housing to be built and the building of a more affordable housing also fits into more affordable mortgages.
Charles Inyangete, the company’s MD/CEO, who gave these hints at their second Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently, also disclosed that the company recorded impressive results in its 2015 financials. In spite of the crippling impact of recession in the country, the company made a profit of N482 million, up from N160 million in 2014. Additionally, its total assets increased to N39.01 billion, up from N10.6 billion in 2014.
The CEO noted that the processes of creating and registering mortgages were not clear and until there was clarity, this would continue to be an issue.
“We do not have clear processes of foreclosure and that creates hazy feeling in the minds of people who provide facilities for mortgage creation. So, we need to address mortgage environment in terms of new laws for clarity on mortgage creation and registration. We need to have foreclosure laws and set out clearly process for foreclosure.
“We have actually taken it upon ourselves to draft a model mortgage and foreclosure law which we are passing through each state. So each state assembly, if they pass it, they will be signaling that they are ready for business”, he said.
On the task ahead for the NMRC, he said, “to grow our refinancing portfolio as we expand to refinancing several of our member-banks and to go to the market with a much higher frequency to raise bonds so as to accelerate the process of refinancing,” he said.
Charles Okeahalam, chairman of the board, said they were pleased with the achievements of the management and efforts they made despite the very difficult financial and economic environment Nigeria faced.
“These are challenging times in Nigeria. The interest rates are very high; inflation has doubled from nine percent in May 2015 to almost 18 percent with the latest numbers that have come out. Against that backdrop, it’s very difficult for the business that we do to be profitable.
“So, I truly commend the management for the efforts. Our ambition and social financial objectives is to get the NMRC to be the catalyst to improve the quality of homeownership and increase the volume of homeownership in Nigeria”, Okeahalam said.
Femi Johnson, president, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), said the performance of the company was good given the economic climate and the lifespan of the company. “Last year, we had elections so for the most part of the year; the economy was in a lull. Oil prices came down and there were a lot of uncertainty in the economy but despite that, the company made good profit even though it was a new company and that was its second year of operations,” Johnson said.
Commenting on NMRC’s performance, Adeniyi Akinlusi, Chief Executive Officer, Trustbond Mortgage Bank Plc said the company fared very well despite the economic downturn. “I think it’s quite notable in the sense that an institution that started barely 18 months ago has been able to break the grounds. It’s quite commendable particularly at this point in time the country when we are facing a lot of economic challenges. However, there is room for improvement in terms of fixing the housing deficit. That should be the next focus”, he advised.
On other areas the institution should improve upon in the nearest future, Akinlusi says, “In terms of trying to see how we can have mortgages that are single digits interest rates even though that may be a tall order because of the present inflation figure but it’s an area we need to work on. Another is in terms of market development and educating Nigerians about the benefits of mortgage.”
According to analysts, NMRC’s profit in 2015, though higher than the prior year, could have been much higher if conforming mortgages were readily available in the market for the company to refinance. Analysts expect that as the mortgage market grows, the company’s footprint would expand substantially.
CHINWE AGBEZE