By Asmau Abubakar
Qatar’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ali Bin Ghanem Al-Hajri has officially inaugurated the Mega Economic City project in Kaduna State, which will involve the construction of 500,000 housing units for less privileged residents of the northwestern Nigeria state.
Mr Al-Hajiri commended the state’s Governor Uba Sani for his support for the successful launch of the project called Qatar Sanabil Project, while expressing that the project aims to improve the living conditions for underprivileged families in Kaduna metropolis.
Aside from the construction of the housing units, Qatar Charity has also pledged an array of interventions and empowerment programmes for the less privileged across Kaduna, according to the diplomat.
“These include scholarships for orphans and children of the poor, distribution of sewing machines, welding machines, irrigation pumping machines, salon kits, and drilling of hundreds of boreholes across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State,” Mr Al-Hajri said.
In his remarks, Governor Sani commended the Embassy of Qatar in Nigeria and the Qatari-owned Sanabil Project for aligning with Kaduna’s “business-friendly environment.”
“The Economic City will provide world-class infrastructure and make Kaduna a reference point in modern and affordable accommodation with adequate security and a conducive atmosphere for business activities,” adding that “the project will facilitate international trade while serving as a platform for local entrepreneurs and traders. It will also harness product value chain opportunities and improve economic growth.”
The project is meant to extend beyond housing, and also provides for clinics, shops, poultry farms and farmlands for both rainy season and irrigation farming.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Legrande Property Development Company, Babajide Durojaiye, has stated that the rent-to-own model is a great but unexplored solution to the housing crisis in Nigeria.
Durojaiye, whose company, in partnership with the Lagos State government, has adopted the rent-to-own housing development model for its Alexandra Courts Coastal City, noted that rent-to-own is not a common practice in Nigeria, but his Company is adopting it because of their knowledge that it is the solution to Nigeria’s housing problem or deficit.
“Here is how it works. You know that as of today, we are talking about a 200 million population figure and we know that the minimum family is about six. If you divide that by six, you are talking about 30 million units in Nigeria.
“If Lagos alone out of that figure can provide one million units, it would have solved a lot of problems. The reason why it is very attractive is that there are a lot of tools in Nigeria that we are not exploring.
“We have the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) that the government has put into place, but we are not using it,” The Independent quoted Durojaiye as saying.