Grace Ofure Ibhakhomu
(R) Grace Ofure speaking to women entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria
Grace Ofure Speaking to 2,500 Women Entrepreneurs at WIMBIZ Conference 2022
Renowned real estate developer unveils a national housing strategy to solve Nigeria’s housing deficit by 2023 and beyond.
—Grace Ofure Ibhakhomu
VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS, NIGERIA, Jan. 1, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Grace Ofure Ibhakhomu, acclaimed real estate developer and founder of Lifecard International Investment Limited, a Lagos, Nigeria-based real estate firm known for His desire to provide solutions to the housing problem in Nigeria, his company provides access to affordable homeownership options for the upper and middle class. Speaking at the company’s year-end conference for 2022, the award-winning real estate icon shared the opportunities and challenges facing Nigerian housing development, noting that a collaborative approach is necessary to solve Nigeria’s housing deficit;
‘Nigeria now stands on the brink of a looming housing crisis. With an ever-growing population, an economic recession, and insufficient government intervention programs in the housing sector, the world’s most populous black nation must prepare for the future.
‘In 2012, Nigeria had a housing deficit of around 17 million. Today, the national housing deficit has risen to a whopping 28 million. These houses must be built to meet our national needs, otherwise we are looking at a major housing collapse with even more dire economic implications.’
The Labor Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, put it succinctly in one of his speeches. ‘We are aware that our existing national infrastructures are decrepit and crumbling. We have housing problems. As a nation, we have been inconsistent in our infrastructure planning and funding. This is an area that we need to urgently address, we need to build 20 million houses, and that will cost us approximately 60 trillion naira.’ Perhaps the big question is, where and how is such a big challenge addressed?
‘We cannot easily understand the financial implications of such projections. Without a cohesive, integrated and cooperative approach between all stakeholders, meeting Nigeria’s housing need is next to impossible.’
‘The government must continue to promote subsidy programs for real estate development and home ownership and create the necessary legislation to regulate and preserve the efficient development of housing and infrastructure in all sectors and areas of need. To ensure the continuity and sustainability of these initiatives, the government must transition from a politically permanent program to a national housing strategy that employs the two critical variables of vision and commitment. By doing this, government real estate initiatives will enjoy continued patronage and growth during their lifetime.”
‘The distribution of infrastructure development is a key determining factor for housing distribution. The government should continue to encourage investment in infrastructure for housing, energy, transportation, irrigation, and telecommunications in rural and urban areas in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
‘The government and other stakeholders should continue to analyze rural industrialization. A well distributed industrialization strategy will help stem the wave of rural to urban migration and encourage developers to consider providing housing in these deprived areas.’
“In the private sector, real estate players need to engage relevant government and parastatal agencies, financial institutions and private equity funds to raise capital for their projects, as the main challenge for housing development in the country is adequate financing. “.
‘Nigeria is a growth market in the global real estate industry. That is the fact. While Nigerians have yet to come to terms with that, international investors are closely watching the African real estate space with a particular focus on Nigeria. Perhaps the main indicator of this inherent opportunity is our ever-growing population and Nigeria’s potential to become one of the world’s largest economies in the near future.’
‘Disseminating knowledge will be a key enabler in our drive for national housing sustainability. Knowledgeable real estate professionals should be willing to promote real estate business literacy to educate Nigerians about the opportunities for wealth creation in the real estate space.’
In a bid to pioneer such a knowledge economy, the award-winning entrepreneur founded Lifecard University to educate Nigerians interested in real estate on how to start and scale a real estate business in Nigeria, without prior knowledge or skills.
‘With the integration of technology, we can further empower and mobilize Nigerians to invest in real estate projects for profit. Stakeholders in real estate need to take advantage of information technology to enable Nigeria’s rising population to have access to smooth real estate investments. In that way, we will design a movement for Nigerians to build Nigeria while we can pool resources for our housing needs nationally.’
To encourage more participation in the Nigerian real estate project, developers need to ensure they provide extended payment plans for Nigerians to own their homes, as is currently being done with Grace Ofure Ibhakhomu’s Lifecard Company, which provides would-be homeowners the opportunity to own their homes with affordable payments. plans’.
“Financial institutions should create more home financing options through affordable mortgage facilities to encourage their customers to own their homes, since the current mortgage offers from some of these institutions are too high or not easily accessible” .
Being one of them herself, Grace Ofure believes that the inclusion of women in the hitherto male-dominated African real estate business environment will go a long way in opening more doors of opportunity. The reason is because ‘women just have the ability to do the job’. This has been proven through his many years of experience and professional service delivery in the real estate industry.
Grace Ofure Ibhakhomu is a Nigerian businesswoman, property investment expert, life coach, and philanthropist. She is Managing Director and Managing Director of Lifecard International Investment Limited, a real estate investment and development company. She is also the owner of Lifecard University, founder of Lifecard Coinvest, and founder of the Grace Ofure Foundation.
lorenzo abuke
Brickbank Media
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