By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos INVESTADVOCATE)- Mustafa Chike Obi, the managing director asset management corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Tuesday said Nigeria needs about 2 trillion naira to address its mortgage problem.
Chike Obi said this in Lagos Nigeria as a guest lecturer at the Hallmark Public Policy Forum ‘’ Emerging Market Challenges and the Imperatives of Economic Reforms’’.
‘’We cannot for example think we can address our mortgage problem with a 100 billion naira
‘’To address the entire mortgage in this country, we need at least 2 trillion naira capital for the mortgage company, I don’t believe a N100 billion is enough. We should find the will and ingenuity to start a mortgage refinance company that has over 2 trillion naira in capital, that’s the minimum amount,’’ the AMCON Chief said.
According to Chike-Obi, one of the challenges Nigeria is having as an emerging market economy is capital, ‘’the Nigerian economy suffers from a tremendous lack of capital, we do not have enough capital to do things in a big way, we are a very big country and we must start thinking big things,’’ he said.
President Goodluck Jonathan launched the proposed Nigeria mortgage refinance company (NRMC) Thursday January 16, 2014 at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja.
The NMRC had planned to capitalise its operation to about N100 billion by the end of the second half of this year, when it is expected to have commenced its operations.
NMRC is designed to deliver effective mortgage financing in the country, already the Nigerian government has secured $300 million soft loan from the World Bank under its International Development Association (IDA) concessionary lending window.
It was reported that the take off grant from the World Bank, other investors that are raising the initial equity of another N10 billion include the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), commercial banks, mortgage finance institutions and the International Finance Corporation, among others will kick off things.
According to Ngozi Okono-Iweala, coordinating minister of the economy and minister of finance, the total capital base of N100 billion will enhance the ability of the institution to buy and securitise the mortgages created by primary mortgage lenders, the minister explained.
