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Nigeria’s real estate to experience growth in 2024 — Gidi real estate CEO

Published

3 months ago

February 22, 2024

NewsDirect

By Matthew Denis, Abuja

The Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Gidi Real Estate Investment Limited, Mr. Ayorinde Ejioye has disclosed that Nigeria’s Real Estate Industry has continued to witness growth and evolution in this year.

According to him this has offered opportunities and bore challenges to the industry stakeholders (developers and realtors), investors, homeowners, and the industry itself over time.

Speaking to journalists, the COO stressed that the commencement of 2024, this has become more intense, especially as government policies, aimed at regulating the industry are ever-increasing and prevailing.

He said, “It is therefore important to highlight the likely real estate trends of 2024 to guide GIDI’s stakeholders and clients as to the development of real estate and investment in Nigeria.

“I want to shed light on this subject by highlighting the Economic state of Nigeria and how it impacted the real estate sector.

“I also spotlight government policy on developing of and marketing lands—titled and untitled—by real estate developers, marketers, and technological development in the industry.”

The Expert opined that Nigeria’s real estate is one of two faces that the industry tends to have the political history of the country as much as the economic history.

He said that the Land Use Act of 1978 may provide an insight into the former while the country’s long-held history of tumultuous economic development is a signpost for the latter.

Explaining more details, he argued that Nigeria’s Real Estate market has been characterised by unprecedented growth which is driven by the country’s urbanisation and growing real investment with Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, and Oyo, as the destinations of these feats.

He said, “This is, however not without the various challenges that it poses, resulting from property scarcity, a large disparity between the middle and lower class, infrastructural and housing deficit, political instability, host community relations, and government policies amongst others.”

Overall he stated the industry looks to continue from the developmental pace it paused at in 2023, while hanging the balance of these challenges around its neck.

The Co-founder noted that Government policies have been instrumental in the industry’s development over time, from the regional era, and military era, to the Republic era.

“This has however been limited by several factors including host community settlement, funding, political instability, and problems of governmental bureaucracy amongst others.

“There have been numerous efforts to encourage more private sector involvement in the industry and introduce new, positive regulatory reforms into the industry.

“For instance, in Lagos state, which is the prime destination of real estate in the country, developers are now mandated to register with the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) and eschew the development of untitled lands.

“In the same vein, marketers are now required to compulsorily register with the agency to enable them to practice real estate marketing as licensed realtors.”

Mr. Ejioye maintained that this is a commendable effort as it raises the bar against fraudsters in the industry, it also poses a challenge to the bureaucratic process of land documentation, which may result in another scam that it is supposed to curb.

He stressed “in all, It is expected that this will aid fair play in the industry by regulating the industry’s terms of practice, reducing fraudulent practices, facilitating stakeholder-government engagement, and creating access to government funds, which will in turn, develop the industry in the long term.

“It is likely that the challenges that the problems of this policy pose will not last the test time, because according to the permanent secretary of Lagos State Land Bureau in 2023, the state government is gearing towards the digitisation of acquisition of land in the estate.

“What this means is that the bureaucracy of acquiring and authenticating the status of lands in the state will reduce, just being scammed will.

“This will also affect the industry as a whole, by improving processes that would have been difficult pre-emergence of technological incorporation in the industry.

“Nigeria’s Real Estate is bound to experience growth in 2024 as a result of the profitability of the industry, the government’s growing presence, and foreign investment. This, however, will be limited by scarcity, economic fluctuation, and policy development—of which regulating reforms is an ongoing issue.”

News

Nigeria’s money supply dropped to N92.3trn in March – CBN

Published

12 hours ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

Nigeria’s money supply dropped marginally to N92.3 trillion in March 2024 from N93.9 trillion in February.

This is according to recent data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Experts have linked the development to CBN’s hike in interest rates.

Demand deposits increased from N26.8 trillion to N28.8 trillion, suggesting a preference among depositors for more liquid forms of money.

Similarly, currency outside banks surged from N3.4 trillion to N3.6 trillion as more Nigerians moved towards cash following the end of the apex bank’s controversial new naira note policy.

The naira has continued to depreciate against the dollar despite the CBN’s policy intervention. On Thursday, it further dipped to N1533.99 per dollar.

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Naira appreciates against dollar, ends week on good note

Published

12 hours ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

The Naira appreciated against the dollar at the foreign exchange market barely 24 hours after depreciation.

FMDQ data showed that the N1497.33 appreciated against the dollar on Friday

This represents an N33.66 gain against the dollar compared to N1497.33 traded on Thursday.

Similarly, at the parallel market, the Naira appreciated to N1475 per dollar on Friday from N1555 on Thursday.

This showed that the Naira ended the week well after days of depreciation.

The country’s currency continued to experience instability since mid-April when it recorded months of appreciation.

Meanwhile, the Bureau De Change Operators had blamed forex scarcity for the continued depreciation of Naira.

News

Police dismiss inspector for N29.8m theft, kidnapping

Published

12 hours ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed one of its officers identified as Adabo Mohammed for criminal conspiracy and armed robbery, among others.

Mohammed, who was an Inspector, alongside five others was said to be a member of an armed robbery gang allegedly responsible for the stealing of N29.8 million from a victim in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory.

This was disclosed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement issued at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

The statement, titled, ‘Police speak tough on indiscipline, misconduct,’ noted that in a move to uphold professional standards within the Force, the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, stressed the Force’s intolerance to any form of indiscipline.

The statement read partly, “In a decisive move to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity within the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, has emphasised his administration’s zero-tolerance policy towards any form of indiscipline. He stressed that the mandate of the police is to serve and protect with honour and integrity, and as such all breaches of the core values of the NPF will be met with decisive action to maintain public trust and ensure justice.

“In line with this policy, all cases reported against personnel have been creditably attended to, and justice has been done appropriately. Many of the erring officers have been sanctioned, while some cases are still at the orderly room trial level, and will soon be concluded.

“For instance, a police inspector has been dismissed from service while three others were demoted to their previous ranks following thorough investigations which confirmed their involvement in various acts of indiscipline/crime.”

Adejobi added, “One Inspector Adabo Mohammed was dismissed for the offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery/kidnapping, and corrupt practice. The dismissed officer, along with five others were members of an armed robbery gang responsible for the robbery of the sum of N29.8 million from a victim in Gwagwalada, FCT as well as the kidnap of one Ikechukwu Emmanuel Okafor in Tunga Manje, and the collection of ransom sum of N4.4m. The ex-officer has been charged to court accordingly.

“Similarly, the trio of Inspectors Osagie Efford, Semiu Agbekin, and Francis Ahuen, attached to the Special Tactical Squad (STS), have been demoted to their previous rank of Sergeant for the extortion of some motorists in Abuja. The trio intercepted an unregistered Mercedes Benz at Gwarinpa, Abuja, and forced the occupants to part with the total sum of N29.4m.

“The matter when reported by one Harrison Gwamnishu (#HarrisonBBi18) via the social media platform ‘X’, was taken up and properly investigated. While the monies have been returned to the complainants, the officers were subjected to orderly room trial in line with extant laws, and have been demoted.”

The FPRO noted that some senior officers have “been subjected to the Force Disciplinary Committee hearings” to “scrutinise and address allegations of misconduct against higher-ranking officers of the Force.”

He assured the public that “these measures are taken with the utmost seriousness and are integral to restoring and maintaining their trust. He re-emphasised that the NPF is dedicated to fostering a culture of accountability and respect within all ranks to ensure that police officers serve with integrity.”