A report on the real estate sector has highlighted asset-backed bonds and sukuk, among others, as suitable sources of funds for housing delivery in Nigeria.
The report, which was launched by the University of Lagos Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development in partnership with the African Research Universities Alliance, stated that real estate investment trust and portfolios could also be used to fund housing delivery.
According to the mandate of the ARUA, the initiative recognises the fact that partnerships and networking have become an essential arrangement for universities throughout the world to leverage their resources for greater impact.
“ARUA is a group that brings together universities committed to maintaining the very best research, teaching and learning experience, and is intended to develop local research excellence through collaboration to find solutions to the development problems in Africa,” it stated.
The research team lead, Basheer Oshodi, who is also the Group Head, Non-interest Banking, Sterling Bank Plc, said the report aimed to examine how the three real estate investment instruments could shape the housing industry as well as what ought to be done to attract the funds.
He noted that the research study team consisted of seven members and the research work was carried out for two years.
The Research Director, Prof Timothy Nubi, who is also the founding Director of the Unilag Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, said he was excited about the launch of the research report.
He stated, “The University of Lagos was established for three main functions – teaching, research and community service – but for a long time, only teaching has been focused on.
“So, the launch of this report gives me great joy and we hope that this research trend will continue as it will help address other key issues in the society, such as the current unemployment rate in the economy.
“We hope that when more of this is done, there will be more data that can be relied on when policies are to be made. The vision of the Vice Chancellor of this university, Prof Toyin Ogundipe, is that 60 per cent of students who graduate from this school will set up their own businesses and not start hunting for jobs.”