32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014
Homes & Housing Finance
FMBN plans to disburse N48bn NHF loan
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ederal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) is planning to disburse about N48 billion loans from the National Housing Fund (NHF) to 10,596 applicants nationwide. Managing Director, FMBN, Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo, disclosed this at a sensitization workshop for operators of Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) organized by the Nigeria Deposit Corporation (NDIC), noting that the processing of the loan was already at an advanced stage. He recalled that as at August 2014, the bank had disbursed the sum of N52.8 billion to 14,179 beneficiaries across the country. Ya’u Kumo noted that NDIC) had stepped up measures to check failures of Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) by bringing them under the Corporation’s deposit insurance scheme with the aim of safeguarding depositors’ funds. He listed challenges confronting the sector to include: dearth of long term funds, resulting in mismatch in creating longterm mortgages; high inflation and cost of funds; under-investment in the housing finance sector; lack of secondary mortgage market to provide liquidity; legal issues such as delay in obtaining Governor ’s consent; costly and cumbersome foreclosure and lack of uniform mortgages; among others.
US mortgage rates slide continues
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verage U.S. mortgage rates fell for the third straight week, making it more affordable to borrow to buy a home. Mortgage company Freddie Mac said that the nationwide average for a 30-year loan fell to 4.12 percent last week from 4.19 percent. The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, also declined to 3.3 percent from 3.36 percent. The 30-year rate is down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year. Rates have fallen even though the Federal Reserve appears set at the end of this month to end its monthly bond purchases, which are intended to keep long-term borrowing rates low. Yet Fed officials have indicated that they will continue to hold shorter-term rates at nearzero levels until there are signs of rising inflation. C M Y K
Wing Towers: Redefining Nigeria's business environment Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE
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consortium, comprising Oando Plc, Argentil Asset Management, Standard Bank and RMB Westport, is set to deliver a twin tower office complex with state of the art features, christened, The Wing Towers, on Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos. The one-stop ultra modern office complex is aimed at providing a conducive environment for national and multinational businesses in Nigeria. On completion, The Wings will comprise a twin 12-Storey towers resting on a four-storey parking and reception facility. Oando and the other 3 firms are the investors and developers of the project. The vision for the project was conceived over five years ago by the Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr. Adewale Tinubu, while RMB Westport, Argentil Asset Management and Standard bank are development partners. The leasing agents for The Wings are: Estate Links Limited (Gbenga Olaniyan and Associates) and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The project being constructed by Cappa and D’Alberto, with a 32 month completion, is expected to be delivered by November 2016. At the market launch of the project in Lagos, Tinubu said, “It’s an iconic building. It’s a
testimony that whatever we do in Oando, we do in a special way.” The complex comprises 27,000 square metres of letable space. Upon completion, it will feature a 700-bay parking lot, a Porte Cochere, a fourth storey function deck for social events and corporate get-
leads on to the retail areas, restaurant and banking hall, as well as security reception desks in the lobby of the towers. Bidemi Fadayomi, Head, Asset Development of Argentil Asset Management, said the coming of The Wings Office Complex will set the stage for global business
LAUNCH – From left: Managing Director, RMB Westport, Mr. Micheal O’Malley; Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu; and Development Manager, RMB Westport, Mr. Roy Hamlyn, during the launch of The Wings Office Complex in Lagos togethers, a restaurant, a bank and a jetty for access by boat via the Five Cowrie Creek. It is designed to be a green certified structure with an intelligent building management system. With 24 hour power and a wet service management system for soil and waste water, the Wings Office Complex is ranked as an energy efficient building. Access to the building is to be controlled via the public lobby, which
partnerships. “One of the major challenges of international businesses when they look to come into Nigeria is the availability of good quality real estate. Not just from a functional office perspective where they can run their daily transaction but also residential where they can house their employees. We observed the gap between the expectations of the tenants and the reality on ground.
‘97% of Nigeria’s land undocumented’
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he Federal Government said that 97 percent of Nigeria’s landmass remains undocumented, a development which has contributed to the country’s poor rating among comity of nations on the speed and efficiency of processes and procedures of land governance. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, stated this recently in his keynote address delivered at a workshop on land reform in Enugu. Anyim, who was represented by Senator Ben Collins Ndu, lamented that Nigeria has only duly documented land titles for 3 percent of the country’s total land mass of about 923,768 square kilometres. He noted
that the consequence was that the land resources in Nigeria have not been put to optimum economic advantage. According to him, appropriate titling and registration of parcels of land will enable holders to harness the wealth inherent in their land asset. He was pleased that the pilot systematic land titling and registration (SLTR) projects already embarked upon by the Land Reform Committee in collaboration with Ondo and Kano states government were yielding results. Anyim commended international development partners like Growth and Empowerment in States (GEMS3) funded by DFID which has supported the projects in the states and
embarked on similar projects in a few others. “The pilot projects have proved that land titling could be transparent and quick. The process of recording every parcel in the presence of adjoining owners is also expected to significantly reduce litigations. We are expecting that the first set of Certificates of Occupancy shall soon be rolled out from the pilot projects. The comprehensive inventory of land holdings across the country that would be generated from the ongoing titling projects shall also aid housing census and provide data for planning. It is pertinent to state that the greatest beneficiaries of the land reform programme are the states and local governments.
So, this building is the start to what would be Nigeria’s response in meeting international demand for real estate. It also sends the right signals to the international business community that Nigeria is ready to play to world class standards,” Fadayomi said. Though, it is not definite that the office units are going to be sold or leased, for returns, she said the consortium hopes to realize between 35 to 40 percent ROI. Roy Hamlyn, Development Manager, RMB Westport, on his part, said, “Rental levels are obviously under pressure. Thus, comparatively, we try to achieve a most competitive rental within the market.” Fadayomi agreed, noting, “This building will offer prospective tenants a level of service that will be unmatched within the industry. In terms of returns, we do believe from the investor’s angle that it would offer us above market returns.” Chinwe Ajene-Sagna, Regional Director of Jones Lang Lasalle Nigeria, one of the leasing agents, emphasized the flexible payment pattern for potential tenants. “You can pay for the sites quarterly, before or on the date of your quarterly payments” she said. According to Mr. Michael O’ Malley, Managing Director, Rand Merchant Bank Westport, “The Wings will for the first time in the market offer prospective tenants superior accommodation in the commercial capital of Nigera.” He enthused that the presence of Cowrie creek on one side and Ozumba Mbadiwe on the other excited the investors and developers, stressing that the building possesses fantastic access route from water and land. According to the developers, project is presently over 60 percent complete. “Right now the project is about two-third of the way through construction and we are still within budget. We also have Cappa and D’Alberto, one of Nigeria’s most renowned contractors. We guarantee our clients a superior product. The Wings complex is special and will change the property and real estate landscape in Nigeria,” O’Malley affirmed.