The Managing Director, The Infrastructure Bank, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, has projected that the Nigerian real estate sector will grow by 10 per cent annually over the next 10 years.

Oyinloye said this in a paper entitled: ‘The infrastructure banker’s perspective: International funding for real estate’, at a business forum in Lagos on Tuesday.

He called on stakeholders to tap into the huge opportunities that would abound with the progressive growth in real estate sector of the country.

Oyinloye identified the residential segment of the real estate market as the sub-sector with massive inherent untapped potential.

He quoted the National Bureau of Statistics as saying, “Nigeria’s real estate market was valued at approximately N1.4tn in 2011 and has risen to N6.5tn in 2015.”

The TIB boss said the sub-sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product was 7.7 per cent in 2012 and rose to 11 per cent in 2014.

According to him, growth in population, burgeoning middle class economic expansion and expanding hospitality industry, among others, are catalysts for further growth in the real estate sector.

He said 80 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria was living in rented apartments compared to Ghana and South Africa, which had between 20 and 25 per cent.

Oyinloye said about 50 per cent of Nigerians were either homeless or were living in inadequate shelter.

He said that his bank was already working on providing solutions to the challenges in the residential real estate market in the country.

He said the bank was collaborating with local and international financing and funding communities on the bankability process in getting funds best suited for real estate projects.

Oyinloye said the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, a Public-Private Partnership initiative, would help?make it easier for the low and middle income earner to purchase homes.