The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) will launch a 15 year bond of $400 billion to boost access to affordable housing in Nigeria. Charles Inyangete, CEO of NMRC, said this would begin with a sale of N10 billion bond next week, which is the first step in a quarterly programme to raise N140 billion.
The 15-year bonds will be used to refinance existing mortgages that meet specified underwriting requirements and will be listed on the Financial Market Dealers Association trading platform.
Inyangete said that Nigeria, with more than 170 million people, seeks to expand access to housing finance to help cut a deficit of 17 million houses. “The continent’s largest economy needs investment of 3.5 trillion naira to build 780,000 housing units annually to help meet rising demand. We see a need for a legal structure that is clear and simple for the creation of mortgages,” he said. The NMRC is taking a “state-based approach” as it tries to push for passage of proposed mortgage and foreclosure legislation. This includes creating mortgage boards for the respective states to simplify the process
The government is also set to sell its controlling shares to the public before the end of the year. “Our ideal scenario is to have every bank that is interested in providing mortgage financing to be part of it,” he said, adding that twenty-one of the country’s 36 states “have already indicated to be part of the pilot.”
By Dike Onwuamaeze
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