Nigeria to benefit from N89bn gypsum investment

It is a bid by private developers projected to slash the total cost of housing by 50 percent.Mr Kingsly Uka Okoronkwo, the Group Managing Director of Ojim Royal Investment and Property Limited, a real estate developer disclosed this in an exclusive chat with Daily Trust recently.Gypsum block is a massive lightweight building material composed of […]

It is a bid by private developers projected to slash the total cost of housing by 50 percent.
Mr Kingsly Uka Okoronkwo, the Group Managing Director of Ojim Royal Investment and Property Limited, a real estate developer disclosed this in an exclusive chat with Daily Trust recently.
Gypsum block is a massive lightweight building material composed of solid gypsum, for building and erecting lightweight fire-resistant non-load bearing interior walls, partition walls, cavity walls, skin walls and pillar casing indoors.
Gypsum blocks are composed of gypsum plaster, water and in some cases additives like vegetable or wood fiber for greater strength.
Okoronkwo disclosed that Nigeria is blessed with diverse minerals and one of them is the gypsum which at the moment is completely untapped and when utilised will help tackle Nigeria’s housing deficit.
He said, “If I have to quote the words of the minister of mines and steel, Nigeria has a deposit of 12 million metric tons of gypsum spread across 17 states of the federation.
“We hope to utilize gypsum in crashing the price of house in Nigeria and create employment for youths because a gypsum plant will accommodate about 3,000.”
He said gypsum  reduces the cost of housing by 50 percent because it takes away painting and plastering and renovation is done after 22 years.

It will take 18 months to install the initial plant. He said.
The estate developer ascribed the delay in the commencement of work to the bureaucratic bottlenecks which hindered the start of work last month.
Okoronkwo said, “Our partners are very eager to start off because the finance has been secured and the interest is already reading.
“We’re looking at $500 million (N89 billion) for a start. In the first year of our operations, we’re looking at erecting 10,000 unit of houses.”
He said in Europe gypsum blocks are still widely used and are gaining popularity as a building material with very low emissions of volatile organic compounds, extremely low radiation values and a neutral pH value that contribute to a healthy living environment.