ABUJA, NIGERIA — A state-backed real estate fund has disbursed 128 billion naira ($81m) in mortgage financing to 1,859 families across Nigeria, a move supporters say demonstrates progress in tackling the country’s chronic housing deficit.
The funding, released by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MRIEF), has been distributed across 25 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
Supporters of President Bola Tinubu have welcomed the initiative. In a joint statement, Chukwudi Enekwechi and Segun Ogedengbe of the Tinubu Media Volunteers (TMV) group said the initiative addresses “one of Nigeria’s most persistent housing challenges.”
They argued that a historical lack of long-term, affordable mortgage financing has effectively priced millions of citizens out of the property market for decades.
Under the current terms, beneficiaries from all six of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones have secured 20-year mortgages at a fixed annual interest rate of 9.75%. Homebuyers are required to provide a minimum equity contribution of 10%.
Nigeria has long grappled with a severe housing shortage, particularly in rapidly growing urban centres like Lagos and Abuja. Previous government interventions have frequently struggled to match the pace of population growth or provide financing structures accessible to low- and middle-income earners.
The MRIEF initiative is designed to run alongside the government’s wider “Renewed Hope” cities and estates programme, as well as existing social housing schemes managed by the Family Homes Funds Limited.
The TMV group stated that the financing model would help “bridge the gap between supply and access to housing”, claiming it reflects a clear federal commitment to reforming the sector.
However, housing analysts note that while the fixed single-digit interest rate is significantly lower than commercial bank rates—which often exceed 20–30% in Nigeria’s high-inflation economy—the scale of the disbursement remains modest compared to the millions of affordable homes required nationwide.
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