Lagos requires 1m units yearly to bridge housing deficit- Ambode

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode says one million housing units are required annually for the next five to ten years to bridge the state’s current deficit.

Ambode also says as against the less than 2,000MW of power being supplied to Lagos, the state needs over 10, 000MW, while out of the 750 million gallons of water required daily, only 210.5 million gallons are being supplied.

The governor at a round-table on infrastructure financing organised by the Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria (HBSAN) in collaboration with the state government which held at Eko Hotels and Suites today, says the state and indeed the country are at a critical point in history where careful assessment must be made on infrastructure deficit and deliberate actions taken to address the challenges.

Continuing with the statistics, Ambode says the population of Lagos, at the moment, is estimated at 24 million people which is equal to that of 30 African countries put together, while by 2050, the state is on track to be a city of 36million people or the 6th largest city in the world after Mumbai, Delhi, Dhaka, Kinshasa, and Kolkata and ahead of Tokyo, Karachi, New York and Mexico City.

“We have a migration rate of 86 people moving into Lagos every hour, higher than New York, London or Mumbai; we have a population density of 6,939 persons per Kilometre and an average of 5 persons per household. With all these comes challenges and pressures on the physical and social infrastructure.
“As at 2010, our state was facing an infrastructure deficit of $50 billion, without the inclusion of Housing and Education. In 2017, we can all imagine what this deficit will be.
“As a government, we are aware of these challenges. These are challenges that face most mega cities like ours because we represent hope to many people and we must provide for all who make Lagos their home. If Lagos works, we could have a chance as a nation to work on others,” he says.

One of the discussants, Andrew Nevin who is one of PWC’s leading global thinkers, urged the state government to consider tapping into the huge data available to financial institutions to unlock revenue potential on landed property in the State which can be deployed to address the massive infrastructure deficits the State is currently contending with.

 

JOSHUA BASSEY