Stakeholders in the Nigerian real estate sector have canvassed property rights and effective governance in the sector, identifying the two elements as fundamental building blocks of a modern economy.
These stakeholders participated in a webinar hosted by the Nigerian chapter of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI-Nigeria) with the theme, ‘Effective Governance and Rational Dispute Resolution’.
The stakeholders noted that poor governance structure, particularly in land registration and dispute resolution, was fueling bribery and corruption as well as limiting foreign direct investments in the real estate industry in Nigeria.
They, therefore, called on the political class to evolve institutional framework that would improve access to property rights and, by so doing, open up Nigerian market to the outside world.
Bill Endsley, Principal Consultant, World Citizen Consulting, a key speaker at the event, stated that besides property rights and effective governance, Nigeria also needs such core elements as access to credit, rational dispute resolution, appropriate regulations and financial transparency in order to develop a sustainable property market in the country.
The discussion had inputs from Hakeem Ogunniran, the chairman, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC), who moderated the discussion, Adeniji Adele, President FIABCI-Nigeria, who set the tone for the day’s business with his opening remarks, Olukayode Enitan, Principal, Enitan Associate, and Nechi Ezeako, CEO, El-Values Advisory.
In her presentation on Integrity, Lola Adekanye, Programme Officer at Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), observed that opportunities in Africa and Nigeria, especially in the real estate sector, could engender growth. She was of the view that good governance would ensure opinions are represented in governing the country.
“There are huge economic growth opportunities in Africa. Global businesses are well positioned to tap into the countries and sectors with the highest potential for growth,” Adekanye noted.
But she faulted attitude to integrity in Nigeria, citing a report by transparency International, which says one in every three Nigerians paid bribes for basic services from 2016 to 2019. She noted that such development erodes investor confidence and prevents foreign direct investment in real estate.
According to the programme officer, “weak law enforcement, sanctions and regulatory regime, poor corruption mitigation and compliance capacity, limited access to credible information and compliance resources as well as limited automation in public administration and company management operations are impacting the real estate sector negatively.”
She also called for institutional structures that would make the industry attractive for investors, encouraging players to show responsibility by promoting transparency in the market.
Francis Okpaleke, a real estate lawyer and managing partner, Mark Odu and Company, lamented that, though the real estate sector plays an important role in the development of any economy, resolving disputes in the sector through the traditional court has been very challenging over the years.
This, perhaps, informed the suggestion by Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Partner, Akinwunmi & Busari, who canvassed stakeholders’ involvement in matters relating to real estate and protection of property rights of the citizens.
“High cost of transaction, high informality and issues of security of tenure reduces property investment in the sector as well as deter foreign investments,” he noted, arguing that if people in the real estate sector are involved in policy making, there would be focus on policies that ameliorate issues affecting growth of the industry.
He argued further that if any investor would commit funds to real estate in Nigeria, he or she should be interested in what the law says, especially in the equality before the law, right to acquire, and own immovable property and the justice delivery system.
He called on the government to improve on these basic fundamentals to boost interest in the industry, saying, “properties are not supposed to be revoked from the owners, without compensations, but properties are revoked by those in power and allocated to politicians.”
