Closing Nigeria’s housing deficit – Can Fashola’s plan work?

Nigeria should have gone past the intense politicking and accompanying drama that is typical of governance in Nigeria. The next phase, which we should have entered into is that phase in which each minister sets out their agenda, policy direction and measurable goals for the next three and a half years that they hope to run their ministries.

The first minister to do so in a clear and concise manner, is none other than Babatunde Raji Fashola, the honourable minister of Works, Power and Housing. This is a positive development as Fashola’s ministry is arguably the most crucial if this government is to deliver on many of its campaign promises. We urge other ministers to follow suit.

What this type of agenda setting does is to open the floor for debate and a jousting of ideas. At SBM Intelligence, we have examined the minister’s speech and done an in-depth analysis on the housing aspect of the speech, crunching the numbers and proposing approaches that we believe will help the minister achieve the necessary results efficiently and avoid mistakes of the past. It is our hope that the minister will consider each idea on its own merit and make the best choices for the country.

The report examines

• The housing deficit that must be filled against the APC’s campaign promises and the minister’s actual commitments.
• The cost of delivery based on the minister’s proposition and determines if this is optimal or if a more efficient cost of delivery can be achieved.
• Funding required and how to raise these funds.
• Repayment model that can make the housing delivered affordable for most Nigerians.
• Comparison with previous governments’ housing schemes and also a benchmarking against the LagosHoms model.
• The necessity of the private sector, which was not mentioned in the minister’s speech.
• Proposed approaches for delivering on Housing to Nigerians.

Download the report (PDF, 6 pages)