Top Nigerian financial institution, Stanbic IBTC Bank, is targeting to raise home ownership from less than 1 per cent in the country to 5 per cent in the next few years.
This was disclosed by the chief executive of the bank, Mr Wole Adeniyi, during his welcome address at the Stanbic IBTC Home Ownership 2.0 in Lagos on Tuesday.
According to Mr Adeniyi, Nigeria is at a critical junction that makes home ownership easily affordable and accessible, with the lender at the forefront.
“We are going to raise it to 5 per cent,” he said at the event.
“Now is the best time and here is where we come in at Stanbic IBTC,” he added.
For him, better economic indices point to the need for Nigeria to take home ownership seriously.
Citing the recent Moody’s report, he said Nigeria is on the accurate path of recovery under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that the ratings agency over the weekend revised Nigeria’s outlook to “stable” from “positive”, as it expects recent progress on external and fiscal fronts to continue, though at a slower pace.
According to the Stanbic IBTC chief, this development points to the fact that the Nigerian president is making do on his campaign promises to carry out reforms.
“What he said he will do during his campaign, he has done it…”
He also noted that World Bank has shown optimism in Nigeria’s economy and expects that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) outlook due later this month will provide futher evidence.
Mr Adeniyi also noted that real estate remains a growing sector and believes that it will contribute more to Nigeria’s gross domestic product.
He explained that Stanbic IBTC has also keyed into the Nigerian government housing scheme including the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF) towards bridging the country’s housing finance gap.
He added that Stanbic IBTC was working with other credit guarantee schemes to further drive home ownership across the country.