Experts ask Federal Government to revive national assets, diversification

Experts in the real estate sector have urged the government to focus more on reviving its national assets to avoid incurring debts.

They said the real estate sector generates huge revenue capable of financing the economy of the nation single handedly, without the government incurring debts.

They made the submission yesterday during a webinar on real estate outlook and projection for 2022 by the Real Estate Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) themed: ‘Regulation, Affordability and Capacity.’

The keynote speaker, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associate, Dr. Ayo Teriba, said when the government ignored its assets and focused only on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), devaluation and inflation would set in.

He lamented that the government only focused on other sectors even as its debts were incurred for servicing other sectors. He further lamented that the government’s focus on agriculture and export in generating revenue was not the best for the economy, as this would slow growth.

Teriba said China, Dubai, South Africa, UAE and US used assets to become wealthy economies. He noted that real estate is the core of the economy, while advising the government to focus more on reviving its idle national assets and invest in housing to generate more revenue to pay off its debt.

Teriba noted that the government should partner with the private sector to utilise its lands that are lying idle in the northern parts of the country, which have become the hiding place for terrorists.

He also kicked against operators focusing on residential real estate and ignoring commercial and industrial aspects, noting that to drive the sector’s growth, all the aspects of the sector must be utilised.

The president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, said the real estate sector was a major contributor to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) throughout 2021, as the growth recorded in the sector for the fourth quarter 2021 stood at 1.47 per cent.

He said while the sector contributed 6.23 per cent to the country’s real GDP in Q4 2021, it is projected to record higher growth figures in 2022 due to the renewed efforts of the government in tackling Nigeria’s huge housing deficit.

He said other major growth drivers include rising urbanisation, growing middle class, increasing investment from local participants that include Pension Funds and Mutual funds; growing number of High-Net-Worth Individuals investing in real estate and targeted intervention by the Federal Government in the housing finance sector.

Olawale-Cole stressed that the government alone cannot bridge the housing deficit in Nigeria, noting that with the right business environment in terms of regulations, policies and interventions, the private sector is better positioned to invest in the real estate sector.

Stressing on sustainable business models, Olawale-Cole, who said there exists a dearth of data in Nigeria’s housing sector, called on operators in the real estate sector to embrace modern technology for service delivery.

He also urged the government to deploy more technology in land documentations and create a platform that hosts the identification of property, ownership and transactions made on them.

This, he said, will make the sector more regulated and attract more investments. The Executive Vice Chairman, Eximia Realty Company Limited, Hakeem Ogunniran, Who is also the Chairman of the event, said regulation of the real estate sector is critical, especially as developers defraud unsuspecting populace.

He said the real estate sector needs funding to ensure affordability of housing, especially as prices of materials have increased.

He said for the sector to thrive in 2022, all the stakeholders must work together to position it at the centre of the economy.

Director, Greenstem Advisory Limited, Adeniyi Akinlusi, said affordability is one of the challenges affecting the growth of the real estate sector.

He said practitioners in the sector are mostly concerned about developing the highbrow areas, leaving out those who live at average or below average income, who have the population.

Akinlusi said to drive growth in the sector; government should ensure infrastructure tax credit to ensure delivery of affordable housing for the over 210 million populace in the country.

He said to review the housing price; the government should provide tax incentives to developers, as this will increase supply for housing this year.

The Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Housing, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, who spoke on strengthening regulation in the sector, said while there is rapid increase in the rate of those seeking for homeownership and accommodations, the state government came up with strategies and policies to cope with the dynamic nature of the real estate sector in the State.

She said they came up with the Real Estate Law, which was signed February 7, 2022 by the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to regulate the Real Estate Business Transactions in the sector in order to curb fraudulent practices among practitioners in the state and also provide value for money for the residents.

She said the state government, with the law, wants to ensure transparency and security of investment, ensure global best practices among practitioners and provide support to investors.