Zerbeced, mortgage firms to unveil new housing projects

Ahead of the oath taking and resumption of duty by the newly appointed ministers, major actors in the housing sector have commenced repositioning for partnership to ensure better provision of needed housing infrastructure for the people. Zerbeced Group with 30 hectares of land along Abuja industrial park is set to develop 3,000 low and middle […]

Ahead of the oath taking and resumption of duty by the newly appointed ministers, major actors in the housing sector have commenced repositioning for partnership to ensure better provision of needed housing infrastructure for the people. Zerbeced Group with 30 hectares of land along Abuja industrial park is set to develop 3,000 low and middle income housing units.
The planned development by the Nigeria-based Turkish experts in the construction industry is in line with the United Nations report and collaboration with the Nigerian government to provide housing for all as proposed in vision 2020.
To help kick-start the process, the new minister of housing shall grapple with the ongoing negotiation of a US$300 million financing agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the International Development Association (IDA) on very concessional terms, zero interest rate, 40-year tenor with 10 years of grace. When the initiative becomes fully operational within the shortest possible period, US$250 million will be disbursed in installments to Nigerian government  as Tier 2 Capital based on performance indicators; US$25 million will be for the establishment of a Mortgage Guarantee Facility for lower income borrowers and US$25 million will support the development and piloting of Housing Finance Microfinance Products including support to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to restructure and strengthen its program.
But there are other problems associated with Nigerian housing sector – building materials, particularly cement are expensive. Government says it is working to manage this. Also, the United Nations estimates that the country’s population will reach 289 million by year 2050, making housing an urgent issue and Nigeria the eighth most populous state on earth. Indeed, Nigeria is the most rapidly urbanizing nation in Africa, placing immense pressure on the government to provide housing.
In an interactive session, the Managing Director of Zerbeced Nigeria Limited Mr. Adyl Aydin Kurt reaffirmed his company’s determination to continue to invest heavily in the housing sector to tackle the acute shortage of houses in Nigeria.
He said Zerbeced has continued to develop the housing sector in Nigeria and in Turkey his home government, looking at the sector to be central to the development of any given economy.
Kurt stated that the company was prepared to partner mortgage firms and indeed the Federal Government and the United Nations to invest in the housing sector than ever before in line with the present administration’s commitment to provision of housing for its people.
The managing director disclosed that the proposed 3,000 middle and low income housing units will house experts who are employees for the construction and building of the first industrial park in Nigeria. These units shall accommodate other Nigerians desiring low, middle and decent accommodation.
He said the industrial park shall be completed in five years using the most modern approach in technology to build one floor per day, while the primary infrastructure shall be constructed ahead of the project.
He outlined hospitals, police station, schools, markets and recreational centers as inclusive of the proposed low and middle income housing scheme.
Kurt, who has been operating in the Nigerian environment and conversant with the designs for tropical regions expressed hope in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are designed to address housing deficit in Nigeria.
Zerbeced has also been involved in the development of the Katampe modern estate, the official residence of the Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria and many more estates and housing schemes scattered across the country.
A major problem is the unseriousness of the mortgage finance companies that are teleguided by political office holders thereby subjecting such laudable processes to undue delay and sometimes total failure to secure mortgage.