Diaspora investment interest rises as BusinessDay, Fine & Country offer insight on economy at RIS-UK

Within two days of co-hosting this year’s edition of Refined Investor Series (RIS) in London, BusinessDay and Fine & Country West Africa have been able to provide fresh and sufficient insights on the Nigerian real estate market and the economy to Diaspora Nigerian investors, leading to a marked rise and expression of interest to invest in Africa’s largest economy.

 

Before now, there had been myths and misconceptions about investment in the Nigerian real estate market  and this, essentially informed the decision to stage the RIS-UK edition in London, in order to correct that impression and also give a first-hand narrative of Nigeria and her economy, with particular emphasis on the real estate market.

 

Unknown to many Nigerians in the Diaspora and, indeed, the outside world, the Nigerian economy is on an upward growth trajectory. Though the economy is in the early stages of recovery from recession, available data shows that the economy is in for good time and on sure growth path.

 

With the great insights offered by these two companies through the RIS-UK, mindsets were changed and some hitherto rigid positions made a  shift. Tunji Adebayo, a thriving commercial real estate developer and the first African to do a 40-floor tower in London, disclosed his readiness to invest in Nigeria.

 

Adebayo was not alone, as Richard Obahor, also a real estate developer in London, indicated interest to invest in residential property in Nigeria. Overwhelming interest also came from others whose investment commitment, especially in commercial property and land, ranged from $300,000 to $750,000.

 

Nekpen Emkpae, Concepts and Marketing executive at Cadwell Limited in Lagos, confirmed in an interview with BusinessDay at her company’s exhibition stand, that many of the participants visited their stand, made enquiries and expressed interest in investing in their property in Lagos.

 

“This event was a great opener for many of these Diaspora investors. They had been concerned about the safety and security of their investment back home”, Emokpae noted, hoping that with the assurance they have got and the knowledge of the opportunities in Nigeria, many of the investors would come back home and invest.

 

Frank Aigbogun, Publisher/CEO, BusinessDay, had in his remarks at the event, told the investors that, as a result of the peace in the Niger Delta, “oil production is at the OPEC limit of 1.8mbd for the first time in many years, and you can add to that an additional 400,000 barrels daily in condensate”, adding,  “data prepared by BusinessDay shows that Nigeria’s oil revenues reached $2.87bn in September and this should rise to just over $3bn for October”.

 

Aigbogun noted that this was a significant improvement from a time last year when Nigeria earned less than N1 billion a month from oil export. He added that this significant jump in dollar earnings from oil sale was helping a steady build up in foreign exchange reserves.

 

“Our analysts at BusinessDay estimate that the rate of this build up in reserves could accelerate to $1bn monthly next year and this could see aggregate foreign exchange reserves at near $45 billion by the time we go to the national elections in February of 2019”, he said, adding, “we are also seeing on the back of this, increased foreign exchange liquidity and stable exchange rates. Recently,  the new investors and exporters foreign exchange window recorded its highest weekly inflow of $1.3bn”.

 

The economy, as a result of all these, has seen both manufacturing and the real sector on the path of growth again. This is in addition to a resurgence in agro and allied investments, which gives hope that domestic cultivation of rice could match consumption in a matter of two years, as  everyone in Nigeria today,  talks of one form of agriculture investment or another.

 

Expectedly, the property market, regarded as a laggard in economic growth index because it moves after the economy must have moved, is beginning to look up again. “In particular, Lagos which should rank among the top five economies in Africa by GDP, is ramping its infrastructure roll out at a faster pace and all of this is helping to prepare it for the property boom which should follow”, Aigbogun said, telling the Diaspora investors that this is the time to take position on the back of these developments.

 

In addition to this, the infrastructure deficit in the country shows there is a significant gap for private capital and, according to Aigbogun,  government needs to do better at attracting this much needed private capital because Nigeria needs to build rail networks, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and power generating and distribution infrastructure.

“When this private capital begins to come, Nigeria should see a significant leap in GDP growth that really creates jobs for her growing unemployed youths”, he hopes.

 

Expectation is that the growth in economy will come with increased economic activities that would call for investment in virtually all segments of real estate including residential, commercial, industrial and retail. “There are pockets of opportunities for those that would like to invest in real estate back home and there is quite a good number of them on offer”, assured Udo Okonjo, Vice Chair/CEO, Fine and Country, in her speech at the event.

 

Udo said Nigeria’s population, potential and location make it an investment destination that could not be ignored. “Nigeria matters because of its location and, most importantly, its people”, she said, explaining that the RIS was holding in London this year because they believe that, for Nigeria to survive, it needs all of its missing parts and these are the Nigerians in Diaspora, including entrepreneurs, professionals, etc blazing the trail all over the world.

 

CHUKA UROKO