Nigeria’s housing deficit requires significant investment, expertise, and execution capacity. While the Federal Government may consider encouraging foreign real estate developers to establish operations and construct housing directly in Nigeria, such a policy must be carefully designed to avoid unintended consequences for indigenous developers.
The challenge facing Nigeria’s housing sector is not simply a lack of construction capacity or access to foreign developers. Rather, one of the major constraints is the lack of public confidence arising from transparency and integrity issues among some real estate operators, including certain government-backed housing schemes.
This has discouraged prospective homeowners from financing projects through deposits and off-plan purchases—an approach that has successfully financed large-scale housing development in many countries.
The solution is therefore not to open the market in a manner that allows well-capitalized foreign real estate companies to dominate the industry.
Foreign developers often have access to cheaper international financing, advanced technology, and stronger balance sheets, placing indigenous firms at a significant competitive disadvantage.
Without a level regulatory and policy framework, local companies may gradually lose market share, resulting in the transfer of a strategic sector of the Nigerian economy into foreign hands.
Countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Canada, and the United States welcome foreign participation but operate under strong regulatory systems that protect buyers, promote transparency, and create fair competition. Nigeria should adopt a similar approach by strengthening regulation, enforcing industry standards, and restoring confidence in indigenous developers rather than relying primarily on foreign firms to solve its housing challenges.
The key policy question is whether Nigeria should encourage foreign developers to build houses directly, or whether it should first create an environment where competent indigenous developers can thrive, compete, and meet national housing demand.
Another important consideration is affordability: how many Nigerians will be able to purchase homes built by foreign developers if their pricing reflects international financing costs, construction standards, and expected returns?
Nigeria’s housing policy should prioritize strengthening indigenous real estate companies through effective regulation, improved access to finance, and higher governance standards, while permitting foreign developers to participate only in ways that complement—not displace—the growth of local firms.
Such a balanced approach will preserve local ownership of the housing sector, create sustainable employment, build domestic capacity, and deliver affordable housing for Nigerians.
Then we can walk round the city with the president and vice president
