According to Wikipedia, Nigeria is a West-African country. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 square miles), and with a population of over 230 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world’s sixth-most populous country. Nigeria is a regional power in Africa and a middle and emerging power in international affairs. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa owing to its large population and economy and is considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank.
This position and reputation have made it imperative for the Nigerian economy to lead other African countries to great height by devising means and methods to develop its real estate and human capital to be able to create and seize opportunities that would in turn improve the investments directed towards the country and its people.
A lot has been said and read about real estate and more precisely, the Nigerian real estate industry and specific markets. Every Nigerian both young, old, rich or poor is looking forward to a point in their lives when they can afford to become a ‘Landlord’ or even make money from trading interests in land and physical properties to enjoy both the income and capital appreciation benefits of real estate.
As we all know that land as a factor of production is fixed, that is, land supply cannot be increased but the intensity of its use can be increased or decreased according to the forces of demand and supply in the area of interest. The real estate industry in Nigeria is massive, however, some regions are still suffering from lack of relevant real estate infrastructure as well as a huge housing deficit of over 17 million units recorded in the country.
Before 1999, economic development has been hindered by years of military rule, corruption, and mismanagement. The restoration of democracy and subsequent economic reforms have successfully put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. After 2015, the Nigerian economy was able to diversify somewhat. Apart from oil and gas, Nigeria exports fertilisers and cement/cement board, moulded polypropylene (plastic) products, personal care products, paint, malt beverages and armoured vehicles.
Real estate is very useful to investors that are seeking long-term profits on their investments, that is, it is a kind of investment where profits are only made in the long term, as development costs may be recouped at least 8-10 years after initial development. This makes commercial real estate more appealing to certain investors as it is priced (per square meter) higher than residential real estate (per unit), however commercial real estate also requires more capital than the residential real estate.
Industrial real estate is not as popular as the residential or commercial real estate, due to the special nature of these developments. Most industrial developments are purpose built for the specific activities of the company or group of companies in question.
The real estate market in Nigeria is growing and at a very rapid rate too, however the costs incurred by developers to deliver real estate – residential, commercial or industrial – for use and benefits of Nigerians is high and growing at an alarming rate. The government is not doing enough to provide any of these developments due to crippling costs of governance.
This has made it important for the government to assist developers by partnering with them using avenues such as public-private partnerships – PPP – to supply important real estate infrastructure of developments that would in turn improve the quality of Nigerian lives and add value to workers and professionals in the real estate industry.
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