FMBN Plans Housing Loan Scheme For University Workers, Students

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) says it is planning to finance the construction of student hostels and staff quarters for university workers to enable them to benefit from its loan scheme.

Its Managing Director, Shehu Osidi, said this at the ongoing 2024 FMBN Management Retreat on Monday.

The theme of the Retreat is 'Improving Efficiency and Customer Service Delivery for Developmental Impact.'
Osidi said that as part of the bank’s strategic engagements, FMBN had concluded arrangements to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shelter Afrique Development Bank.

This, he said, was to explore lines of funding for FMBN’s new initiatives like rental housing and the development of student hostels.

Osidi said, “The FMBN manages the National Housing Fund (NHF), which is a pool of funds contributed by Nigerian workers as 2.5 per cent is deducted from their salaries.

“It is the students that graduate from the school that ultimately become workers.

“So, what we are trying to do is to catch them young so that while they are still on campus, they can have a feel of FMBN.
“We are looking at financing the construction of student hostels and constructing staff quarters for university lecturers and university non-academic employees.’’

Osidi said that FMBN would partner with universities to achieve that and also provide hostel financing for university students who would ultimately graduate to become workers and contribute to the National Housing Fund.

He said that under the President’s Renewable Agenda, driven by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, an MOU was signed with the consortium of developers under a public-private partnership arrangement.

This, he said, was so that they could raise funding for housing construction.

He further said, “So, what FMBN did was to provide a 100 billion naira to enable this consortium of developers to access consortium financing from financiers.

“The essence of the uptake guarantee is that if the houses are built, FMBN will provide mortgage finance to the beneficiaries of those houses.’’

Osidi said that by building and nurturing partnerships, the bank would leverage synergies, access new resources and expand its reach to scale up its impact and accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across Nigeria.

He added that the bank was restrategising to deliver on its mandate.
Osidi added, “FMBN is going through a lot of legacy issues most of which have to do with service delivery and efficiency.

“So, what FMBN did was to provide a N100 billion to enable this consortium of developers to access consortium financing from financiers.

“The essence of the uptake guarantee is that if the houses are built, FMBN will provide mortgage finance to the beneficiaries of those houses.’’

He said that by building and nurturing partnerships, the bank would leverage synergies, access new resources and expand its reach to scale up its impact and accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across Nigeria.

NAN