Lafarge invests in 300,000 houses by 2020

To contribute towards bridging the about 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc has said it is investing in affordable housing schemes for Nigeria as it plans to build 300,000 low cost housing units by year 2020. Already Lafarge has launched an affordable housing scheme that will see about 6,500 beneficiaries getting low […]

To contribute towards bridging the about 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc has said it is investing in affordable housing schemes for Nigeria as it plans to build 300,000 low cost housing units by year 2020.
Already Lafarge has launched an affordable housing scheme that will see about 6,500 beneficiaries getting low cost houses in the medium term.
Mr. Lanre Opakunle, General Manager, Independent Power Projects, Lafarge Africa Plc disclosed this during the Build Safe, Live Safe interactive session with the press.
He said 6,500 people will benefit from the scheme and 1,300 constructions have been completed thus far adding that 4,000 units are targeted before the end of 2015.
He explained that Lafarge targets 2 million globally by 2020 out of which Nigeria will have 300,000.
According to Opakunle the scheme will be spread across the country but for now, six states have been covered: Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Edo, Lagos, and Cross Rivers States.
Already, he said the scheme has received investment from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) with N1 billion.
He said as part of the effort, the Lafarge Easy Home scheme partnered LAPO Microfinance Bank so Nigerians can have easy access to finance ad build their homes at relatively low cost.
“In Abuja, we are working on a development of 500 houses in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
“In Kano, we are currently working on the development of 504 units sponsored by the Emir of Kano and using a prefabricated solution enabling a record fast execution. The solutions enable up to 30 percent savings on construction costs” he said.