Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria set a target of generating an annual turnover of $2.4bn

FEDERAL Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) officials have been set a target of generating an annual turnover of N1trn ($2.4bn) as part of their mandate to address the chronic housing shortage in the country.

Like many other sectors of the Nigerian economy, housing suffers from chronic under-investment and the FMBN is charged with addressing this by selling mortgages to Nigerians. Urging the FMBN to live up to its responsibilities, the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (Mban) has advised its new management team to look towards the capital market.

During a courtesy visit on the new FMBN managing director Madu Hamman and his team in Abuja over the weekend, Mban said that the N1trn annual target would help the bank and the entire housing sector realise set goals more easily. Among other things, Mban told the FMBN to take advantage of  market opportunities and grow the financial capacity of the sector and also called for a review of the laws guiding operations in the mortgage banking sector in Nigeria.

Mban president Ebilate Mac-Yoroki, also expressed the need for the FMBN to automate its operations and stated that primary mortgage banks should equally be allowed fair opportunities to operate. He said when the FMBN decides to take advantage of the opportunities that abound across the mortgage sector in the capital market, there would be enough funding to meet the several commitments it has on ground, including payment of dividends.

Mr Mac-Yoroki said: “I’m a product of the capital market, so I want to plead that the Federal Mortgage Bank utilises all the opportunities we have in the sector and we have also given you a target because you don’t just come as big men, work without target. Government will not give you target but because we are private sector people, we are saying that from now on, your operational target should be in N1trn turnover every year.

"It means this year we’re already in June, we can accommodate a N500m turnover. That way we know that you will have a lot of money, you can pay dividend and so on.

“We also want to plead that you give optimum opportunities for all private mortgage banks to operate, as many as possible, without compromising standards. If anybody has not committed any crime, maybe he has one or two regulatory issues to address, please try and help them so that we can have enough.

“The other question is, for us to operate, you must also help us operate at optimal levels. There’s this funny question of single obligor that is being raised in some quarters, we don’t know the meaning of single obligor.2

Responding to the requests, Mr Hamman, said FMBN takes its relationship with Mban seriously, recalling the history of both bodies. He, however, assured that the issues raised by the banking association would be given adequate attention, observing that processes had already begun on some of the areas.