Family Homes Fund to Create 1.5 Million Jobs

• Family Homes Fund to Create 1.5 Million Jobs

The Family Homes Fund Limited, a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority as founding shareholders, will address the country’s housing deficit and also create about 1.5 million jobs in the process, stakeholders in the initiative have said.

They are of the opinion that combined efforts of government ministries and agencies, and the private sector will address the country’s housing deficit, adding that new partnerships and initiatives supported by the federal and state governments would help provide the over 17 million new homes needed over the next 15 years.

The Fund, according to a statement by its management, is structured as a Real Estate Investment Trust and will be professionally managed to catalyse funds from the private sector, pension funds, insurance funds, multilateral agencies and impact investors.

It added that it would be the largest affordable housing focused fund in sub-Sahara Africa leveraging its significant capital expected to hit N1tn by 2023 to facilitate access to affordable housing for millions of Nigerians on low and medium incomes.

The statement read in part, “Through strategic partnerships with various players in the sector and some of the world’s main Development Finance Institutions, the FHF has an ambitious commitment to facilitate the supply of 500,000 homes by 2023.

“The key priority for the Fund is to take advantage of the opportunity a large-scale house building programme offers to create jobs. With a projected cumulative spend of up to N1tn by 2023 in various inputs into the house building process, including doors, windows, tiles, roofing materials, blocks, paving stones and paint, among others. There is opportunity to incubate large numbers of small-scale industries creating significant employment.”

It added that the FHF aimed to also catalyse the creation of new jobs through the investments it would make, alongside investments by other players in the housing sector, with a projected impact on families, especially women, who often carry the biggest burden in poor households, and young people.

The FHF said, “At a national level, this potential effectively harnessed could generate up to 1.5 per cent increase to the GDP by 2023. The FHF’s approach to creating jobs will be driven by policy, partnerships and people. Through the investments we make, the Fund will equip a new generation of young Nigerians with high-level skills in modern methods of construction and technologies.

“Through a combination of these activities, the FHF aims to create or support up to 1,500,000 jobs by 2023, making a real difference in the quality of life of their families and the economy.”