Nigeria needs to construct at least 700,000 housing units annually for the next 10 years to make significant progress on its estimated 28 million-unit housing deficit, according to Samuel Durojaiye, chairman of Gateway Mortgage Bank Limited. Speaking at the bank's ninth Annual General Meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Durojaiye said closing the gap would require a coordinated response from government, mortgage institutions, private investors and other stakeholders across the housing sector. He stressed that expanding access to affordable financing would be essential to turning housing policies into actual homes for Nigerians.
The Federal Government has introduced intervention financing schemes to encourage housing investment and make mortgages more accessible through single-digit interest rates, Durojaiye said. These include the Ministry of Finance Real Estate Investment Fund and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria's National Housing Fund mortgage loan, which offers borrowing at six per cent per annum. Durojaiye said these initiatives were important for expanding access to housing finance, particularly for Nigerians who might otherwise struggle to access mortgages under prevailing market conditions. The N1 trillion MREIF programme has recorded significant disbursements, with Gateway Mortgage Bank securing an approved facility of N2.2 billion and disbursing N809.9 million to customers during 2025.
High interest rates have remained a major obstacle to mortgage lending despite gradual improvements in some macroeconomic indicators, Durojaiye noted. The Nigerian economy in 2025 operated under the Federal Government's macroeconomic reforms, which produced declining inflation, relative exchange rate stability and persistently high lending rates. While inflation decline and improved exchange rate stability offered some relief, the high cost of borrowing continued to constrain businesses, particularly mortgage financing operators, he said.
Durojaiye also identified recapitalisation of primary mortgage banks as another urgent issue. He projected that the exercise could result in minimum capital requirements ranging from N10 billion to N20 billion for state mortgage banks and N20 billion to N50 billion for national mortgage banks. Gateway Mortgage Bank's paid-up capital of N2.5 billion could leave it significantly undercapitalised if anticipated requirements were introduced, he expressed concern. During 2025, the bank paid N202,612,903 in interest to funding partners on outstanding obligations after increasingly relying on commercial borrowings over the preceding three years.
Representing Governor Dapo Abiodun at the AGM, Dapo Okubadejo, the state's Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, said sustained investment in productive sectors remained fundamental to economic growth. He noted that Ogun State had positioned itself as Nigeria's industrial capital and a preferred destination for investors. Increased investment in manufacturing, infrastructure and other productive activities had expanded the state's Gross Domestic Product, created employment opportunities, strengthened local value chains and improved government revenue, Okubadejo said.