According to Ahmed Dangiwa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the nation’s housing market has the capacity to spark a $1 trillion economy.
Speaking during the recent groundbreaking for the 250-unit Renewed Hope Estate in Akwa Ibom, Dangiwa underlined that the housing market has the potential to spark a $1 trillion economy.
The project, which is a component of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme, was introduced by the President in February 2024 with the groundbreaking for 3,112 Renewed Hope City in Karsana, Abuja. Since then, it has expanded to include states like Kano, which will have 500 units in Renewed Hope City, and Katsina, Gombe, Yobe, and Sokoto, each of which will have 250 units in Renewed Hope Estate.
“We plan to turn Nigeria into a huge construction site. This estate, like the others, comprises 50 units of 1-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, 150 units of 2-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, and 50 units of 3-bedroom semi-detached bungalows.
“We have designed these housing units in a way that makes them affordable for people to acquire by using organic designs to allow for future expansion as the income of beneficiaries increases.
“This means that a 1-bedroom unit can be expanded to 2 bedrooms, and a 2-bedroom unit can also be expanded to 3 bedrooms as the owner’s financial situation improves or their family grows,” Dangiwa said.
The minister emphasised the enormous economic advantages of building homes, pointing out that these benefits extend beyond boosting local economies.
He posited, “Statistics show that the construction of one housing unit creates an average of 25 direct and indirect jobs. So, for these 250 housing units in Akwa Ibom, we hope to create jobs for over 6,500 people in various trades, from professionals like architects, civil engineers, and mechanical engineers to masons, plumbers, tilers, electricians, and labourers.
“We have seen unskilled workers at sites earning as much as N35,000 per week, at an average of N5,000 per day. This amounts to about N140,000 per month.
“This is in addition to the economic activities, including those selling food, supplying blocks, and providing building materials. The value chain effect of construction work on this site is significant and creates a positive economic impact,” the minister explained.
He expressed his gratitude to Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, for giving the project’s land away for free, but he also advised other state governors to follow the example set by the 12 states that have already benefited from the N50 billion 2023 supplemental budget.
He gave them the assurance that their states would be covered by the ministry’s 2024 budget because the ministry intended to construct Renewed Hope Estates in each state.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria estimates that in order to close the 28 million housing gap in the nation, about N21 trillion in investments are required.
