During the 50th anniversary of FIABCI-Nigeria in Lagos, members of the International Real Estate Federation, FIABCI Nigeria, were encouraged to revise their business strategies to connect the accessibility of real estate with affordability.
Dr. Biodun Adedipe, Founder and Chief Consultant of B.Adedipe Associates Limited, who was a guest lecturer at the event, emphasized that in restructuring their business models, professionals should recognise that 39% of Nigerians have multiple sources of income.
Reeling out the statistics during the 50th celebration of FIABCI in Nigeria held in Lagos, said that 26 per cent of Gen Z has multiple strings of income, 33 per cent of the millennials, 40 per cent of Gen X and 64 per cent of the older generation has multiple strings of income each.
The theme of the celebration is “Repositioning Real Estate into Future: Ethics, Affordability and Sustainability.”
For real estate professionals and investors, Adedipe said they should be able to identify the different generations, their capacity, and kinds of real estate assets they could offer them.
According to the guest speaker, real estate professionals, should, therefore structure their products to appeal to every segment of their mandate.
“Design your products to match the financial characteristics of these various generations,” he said.
He described affordability as one of the three key elements in the democratisation of real estate, mentioning that the elements included availability, accessibility, and affordability.
“First is for it to be available, then access to it and being affordable,” he said.
On sustainability, he urged real estate practitioners to think about succession and build eco-friendly real estate assets.
“We must think of how to migrate our businesses to become environmental friendly.
“Be conscious of social governance. We must protect the planet,” the renowned economist said.
He noted that if any economy will grow inclusively, real estate plays a vital role, describing the sector as a catalyst for growth and a vehicle for wealth creation for investors, vehicle for job creation, and provision of access for finance.
“For real estate in Nigeria to be this, the issues identified for the conversation: Ethics, Affordability and sustainability are fundamentals.
“They must be central in your individual organisation business strategy, and of course, your operating model as professional in the build eco-system.
Speaking on ethics, he pointed out that when it comes to real estate ecosystem, trust is key to buyers, sellers, agents, and investors as it defines their decisions and choices.
“Financial values of real estate assets are very significant. So, ethical conduct of agent assure protection for the vulnerable buyer, seller, and investor, whereas for the agent, it’s key to reputation building and defense,” he said.
Chairman of the ceremony, Dr Tunde Lemo, said the celebration has provided an opportunity for real estate professionals under FIABCI to take a look at how they had impacted Nigerian economy, particularly the people in the last 50 years.
According to him, the topic of the day was apt and very important to Nigeria due to the rapid population and the projection for 2050.
He urged the professionals to think of how affordable housing could be provided in Nigeria.
“Even where we are now, economy tells us that we have severe housing shortage of between 20 million to 22 million units, requiring about N21 trillion to fix.
“And then, looking at the demography, we have per capital income just a little over N2,000.
“For an individual to be able to afford a house today, between N8 million and N10 million, it will be very difficult if we are not looking at affordability, “ he said.
He listed challenges of urbanisation to include slum developments occasioned by rural-urban migration and stressed the need to invest in eco-friendly buildings.
“In the way we do construction, we must ensure that pollution is reduced to the minimum.
President-elect, FIABCI International, Ramon Riera Torroba, described the celebration of 50 years of the association in Nigeria as a lasting legacy, lauding the founding fathers saying they deserved recognition and gratitude.
He pointed out that their foresight had paved way for the remarkable progress.
“The association has always been a melting point of ideas, expertise, and innovations, and continue to provide the platform for professionals in the real estate industry to thrive and sell,” he said.
The international president described the gathering as a celebration of commitment to the future where innovation, collaboration, and excellence will continue to be the hallmark of the organisation.
“We are rededicating ourselves to the principles and values of what’s facing Nigeria for the past century.
President, FIABCI Nigeria, Mr Gladstone Opara, chronicled past events surrounding the birth of the association in Nigeria and the roles played by the founding members
He also listed some of the achievements of the organisation, saying
FIABCI had rendered pro bono advice to the government and private businesses in Nigeria.
He said “The Nigeria property scorecard which FIABCI runs recently with the collaboration with the Centre for International Private Enterprise has helped us to unveil the current ups and downs in property investment in different parts of the country.
“We have helped to provide the needed worldwide exposure to members through the various international programmes.”
Source: Nigerian Tribune
