Diaspora money to Nigeria hits $10billion
“If the housing sector takes about 25 per cent of that inflow, we are expecting that about $2.5 billion dollars is coming to us in the form of inflow from Diaspora people that would need houses and investments in the housing sector.
“That would translate to about N4 billion and with that we can fund mortgages and build about 30, 000 units and that would be an opportunity for those who would want to have houses in Nigeria. That is within the envelope that we are allowed to operate which is N15 million or $90, 000.
Speaking at the 4th Nigeria Development Finance Forum in Washington DC, Managing Director of the bank, Gimba Ya’u Kumo, said that this has become necessary given the large number of Nigerians in diaspora who wish to own homes in Nigeria.
According to him, this is a way to reduce the housing deficit in the country.
“We realized that about 17 million Nigerians are living outside the country and most of them have plans to have houses and they have not been able to do so. We understand that over the years, people who have been remitting money for the building or the buying of a house has not been getting good results. Stories have followed this money.
“What we are trying to do is that by the time we develop the diaspora mortgage model, it will be a model whereby Nigerians living abroad who want to buy houses can resort to FMBN and at the end of the day if they do not take the mortgage, they can get refund of their money with interest.
The FMBO boss further said that the reason the bank has chosen the US is because out of the 17 million Nigerians all over the world, America accounts for about 58 per cent.
The Sunnewsonline.com
