WEMABOD celebrates 60 years of delivering real estate solution

By Adenike Agunsoye

Wemabod Limited has celebrated its 60th-anniversary celebration as one of Nigeria’s oldest but very solid property development and management companies.

The company which has emerged as one of the longest-standing real estate solution providers over the last sixty years is set to raise a glass on this momentous Diamond Jubilee celebration. Wemabod Limited is a property development and management company with a focus on property development, property management and Building facilities/ services management.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of ODU’A INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED and was incorporated under the name, Nabani Estates Limited, on the 20th of September, 1962; Formerly (wholly) owned by the defunct National Bank of Nigeria Limited but In October of 1962, National Bank of Nigeria Limited., sold its shareholdings for £1,231,000 to the defunct Western Nigeria Marketing Board at Ibadan and the name of the company was thereafter changed from Nabani Estates Limited to Wemabod Estates Limited, then and recently to Wemabod Limited.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/CEO of Wemabod Limited, Mr Yemi Ejidiran appreciated the board’s contributions to the brand. He recalled that 60 years ago many African countries were going through their postwar and decolonization processes, facing adverse circumstances, impeding their state properties, extreme poverty and lack of basic health and education facilities. Not to mention shortages of border real estate facilities and infrastructure.

According to him, he narrated that the dynamics of these challenges are continuing to persist even increase as at present, thereby, providing for real estate practitioners like WEMABOD to continue to refine key strategic actions to grow not only market shares, but also descend profitability, thereby enhancing shareholders value.

It was on these notes, he said, that the management and board of WEMABOD arranged this session in year 2019, which was revalidated in year 2021 Post COVID era. Under professional guidance of business KPMG professional services that strategy session presented a new list of strategic and visioning for WEMABOD riding on the back of five strategic pillars which he listed as portfolio optimization, in a bid to maximize revenue earning capacity of current property portfolio growth and diversification purposely established to improve revenue capacity of current property portfolio and expand property development business, financing an investment capital which is required to deploy a defective financing strategy to support strategic investment and facilitate business growth, operational excellence, which is required to achieve operational excellence as a differentiating factor.

Mr. Oyediran stressed that another strategic Pillar is People and Culture. He explained that Culture can kill a business organization, “terrible culture can kill a business and organization and the people that work for our organization, we consider them as very, very important and critical resources to be able to deliver results.

“So people and culture will be required to also build a highly effective workforce with the requisite skills and capabilities to deliver unstrategic goal.

“Obviously the real estate sector of our economy has been confronted with microeconomic constraints amongst which are volatile foreign exchange regimes and interest rate hikes, never known in the business cycles in several years. Some of these include certain input costs into the construction regime, one we probably know more than I do. Diesel costs have literally moved from about 200 Naira per litre to 850 Naira per litre. Today, cement has moved from 1800 Naira. Meanwhile, disposable income of citizens continues to dwindle,” he added.

Speaking on the theme of the event, the keynote speaker, Dr. Biodun Adedipe noted that creativity and innovation in financing for sustainable real estate development is simply to use what is available to solve the problems at hand.

“I have learned that there is no end to innovation in financing as structure, we can find the examples ideal in the number of countries involved in different transactions.

“And of course, the peculiarity of each project will determine the stakeholders to invite to the consortium. And of course the investment teaser now is the real seller and everything boils down to the economic principle,”he said.