Despite its strong growth prospects reflected in increased assets base and growing sophistication in both residential and commercial buildings, the facilities management (FM) industry in Nigeria is still struggling with lack of standardization and low entry barrier as key issues.
Though there are multiple efforts working towards standardisation within the market space, the impact of these efforts are not seen because many of such efforts are in silos typical of Nigerian professionals.
A recent report, ‘The Nigerian Facilities Management Report’, compiled by the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) notes that low entry barriers is a key problem facing the industry as unskilled individuals that pose as facility management professionals offer poor services.
IWFM is the professional body for workplace and facilities practitioners that exists to promote excellence among a worldwide community and to demonstrate the value and contribution of workplace and facilities management.
The body empowers professionals to scale up and reach their potential for a rewarding, impactful career by advancing professional standards, offering guidance and training, developing new insights and sharing best practice.
The report which was released just a few days ago suggests that an ‘arrow organization ‘ working collectively with the entire industry is required to ensure best practices are standardized, explaining that the practices and standards need to be set up to create barriers that stop wrong people or just anyone from participating.
The FM industry in the country is challenged almost at all fronts and these have pulling down effect on the industry. Besides lack of acceptable standards, the pool of excellent sub-contractors with the ability to support the execution of a facilities management contract is exceptionally shallow with a disorganized supply chain.
“Without quality and capacity within this segment growing, it is almost impossible for the performance of the entire industry to improve; extremely low barriers to entry for artisan work also means the market standard for skills is anchored to the floor,” said the IWFM report.
Nigeria is a very challenging business environment and it is all the more tasking for the FM practitioners who operate in the real estate space where maintenance culture is poor and regulatory environment is very weak.
According to the report, this poor maintenance culture within the Nigerian real estate space shortens the life span of typical assets and besides the lack of a pool supply of quality contractors and sub-contractors, where there is quality, many market participants are hesitant to pay a premium.
It explains that weak enforcement of best practice in building and finishing standards from regulatory bodies also make the management of property once completed harder than it typically should be, adding that this typically results in greater wear and tear, putting the longevity of the asset in jeopardy.
Another major challenge in this industry is energy which is said to constitute about 40 percent of overall maintenance cost. The Energy Architecture Performance Index published by the World Economic Forum ranked Nigeria 110 of 127 countries in 2017. The index is a tool for decision makers to help better understand energy systems and to assess the current energy architecture performance of individual nations.
In the same year, Nigeria generated an average of 3,841MW of power even though there is an installed capacity of over 12,000MW and an estimated demand of 92,000MW. The mismatch in demand and supply of power, the report says, mean that ‘blackouts’ or power cuts are a norm in Nigeria and that most commercial property require backup diesel generators to ensure business or other activity is not brought to a standstill.
But amidst these challenges, there are still strong growth prospects for both the industry and the professionals therein, especially with the penetration of technology, offering internet services through internet of things (IoT).
The industry has a promising future with immense investment opportunities. The value of the industry globally is estimated at $1.1 trillion. Africa alone harbours about 1.4 percent of this global value which is about $700 billion. With technology and the right expertise, local practitioners can tap into this.
According to the report, internet of things comes with advantages. “The interconnectivity and control that comes from otherwise dormant devices means that building management can be more efficient for facility managers and individuals alike. A prime example of this is Ring, a video doorbell service,” the report explained.
CHUKA UROKO
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