BEING WELCOME / KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE
National Conference on Real Estate Data Collation and Management Program, Yar’Adua Centre, ABUJA.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
With gratitude to God, I am very happy to welcome all of you to this august gathering. We are here to chart a course of action that will smoothen and deepen real estate development in the country.
Data as we all know is a critical ingredient for planning, policy formulation, business decisions, and execution of tasks. This is because data is the basis of business intelligence, which is about taking information and turning it into knowledge to drive better business decisions. The dearth of credible and reliable data has been the bane of our national development.
It is very pertinent to remind ourselves that the global economic crash of 2008–2010 had its origin in the real estate sector in the United States of America. This is not surprising because the mortgage finance to GDP ratio in developed countries is very high. The United States has a mortgage finance to GDP ratio of 77%. No wonder when there was a crisis in the real estate sector, the whole economy was affected. We thus have an added incentive outside of shelter consideration to monitor the real estate sector carefully for reasons other than shelter.
Figures on housing deficit in this country have been estimated to be between 17 to 23 million depending on the source. However, when you ask for the basis of this figure, hardly can anybody or any organization avail you with empirical evidence on how the figure was arrived at. Investors are keen on getting verifiable and reliable information on various aspects of the real estate sector, pre-construction, construction to post-construction. It is suicidal to premise the huge investment required in the real estate sector on mere guesswork.
It is on this premise that when REDAN was approached by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to avail them of data on members’ operations, residential property price index etc., we liaised with them for a more inclusive and collaborative effort to get data across the housing value chain in one pot, instead of pockets or silos of information. The acceptance of the idea by Dr. Tumala, the Director of Statistics in the CBN and his team for an inclusive and holistic collation and management of real estate for the nation served as tonic for what we now have as National Real Estate Data Collation and Management Program.
Based on the nod from the CBN, we approached the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and other stakeholders in the real estate sector, many of whom are also present at this occasion, for us to collaborate, synergize and execute the task. We want to thank the Heads/CEOs of the organizations for sending their staff to attend the Technical Working Committee (TWG) and Steering Committee meetings which have produced the template on housing data to be discussed at this conference.
Our aim is to funnel and streamline our data needs on any aspect into a single questionnaire, administered jointly and efficiently and make the resultant information available. It reduces wastages and ensures efficient utilization of resources and data credibility and uniformity. The acceptance of this collaborative effort across board by all stakeholders gladdens the heart and heralds a new beginning of cooperation that will yield mutual benefits to all parties.
In line with best practice, the data has been classified into, (a) Administrative, (b) Business, (c) Household, and (d) Off-taker aspects. Furthermore, the funding of the various activities has been divided into (1) Administrative expenses for the general running of the Program, and, (2) Operational Account, which will be dedicated exclusively to data collation and processing. This allows organizations to channel resources into areas that are consistent with their core mandate. The accounts will be domiciled in Central Bank of Nigeria and managed by the Steering Committee, which evaluates the submissions of the Technical Working Group. Membership of both the TWG and Steering Committee were drawn from all stakeholder institutions.
Currently we have high competition amongst nations, states, institutions etc., regarding enhancing ease of doing business — to make their place or organization a destination of choice for investment. Also the recently released Economic and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government noted that over 75% of the drive and entrepreneurial energy will come from the private sector. When added to the dwindling oil revenue, the urgent and excruciating need for states to assist in this effort cannot be overemphasized.
The recent efforts by Lagos State in reducing transaction cost and time for land formalization as well as huge infrastructure expansion is deeply appreciated. Also the foreclosure laws and other process improvements by Kaduna State Government is worthy of emulation by the 36 land administering states and FCT in Nigeria. We are also aware of the very pragmatic efforts being made by other States and FCT to unleash the huge potential in the real estate sector for the benefit of Nigerians. Going forward most investment decisions will be determined by the comparative ease of doing business. The employment generation and multiplier effect in the local economy cannot be overstated.
This Conference which invited Commissioners in charge of Land and Housing from the 36 states of the Federation including the FCT and Directors of Lands, Town Planning, Registrars of Deeds and Surveyors-General, is to get your buy-in in our quest to have holistic data in the real estate sector. For a start of the program, we have earmarked six states (one in each geopolitical zone and Abuja) for the Pilot Scheme namely; South-South (Cross River), South East (Enugu), South West (Lagos), North Central (Plateau), North East (Gombe), North West (Kaduna) and the FCT. Data from other states will be collated incrementally until all the states are covered within a year.
It is on this note that we solicit for your earnest cooperation when you are approached for information. In addition, we request that if at the end of the presentations you have data needs that ought to be included in the template, we will appreciate it if you avail us with such information, by sending it to the programme’s email.
While this Conference is to sensitize all present on the task of data collation, the enormous effort of achieving the assignment starts after this gathering. Personnel shall be employed and funds shall be required to conduct household, business, administrative and off-taker data gathering. We look forward to pooling our resources to ensure the actualization of this noble vision.
We want to appreciate the Honourable Minister for Power, Works and Housing for his avowed interest in this programme, for directing that at the last Council of Lands Meeting held on August 24–25, a paper on the subject matter be presented, whence State Commissioners and other participants were informed ahead of time of this meeting and their cooperation was solicited for.
The Programme is also to be given a life of its own and the products of the program, the data collated and analysed shall be warehoused and owned by all stakeholders for access to those who need it for decision making. It shall be regularly updated. The sustainability of this is critical and must be ensured. Further improvement and modalities as need arises shall be smoothed out to ensure that the program remains alive.
There are many other challenges to our smooth running of the real estate sector. These include the challenge of regulations and governance; entrepreneurial/artisanal skill development; reduction in transaction time/cost; funding; definition of roles and responsibilities amongst stakeholders etc. The current global and local socio-economic situation calls forth for innovation and change of philosophy of operations. We are the ones we have been waiting for to make the change we seek. We shall not fail GOD and our people.
Once again, I want to thank the staff of the Statistics Department of CBN, members of the TWG and the Steering Committee for their invaluable contribution to making this conference a success.
We wish our invited guests a productive conference and safe trip back to your respective destinations.
Thank you.
Surv. (Rev.) Ugochukwu O. Chime FNIS, FNIOB, JP
