By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA —— PRESIDENT
Bola Tinubu has hailed the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund, MREIF, after the scheme delivered N128 billion in affordable mortgages to 1,859 Nigerian families across 25 states under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The beneficiaries, drawn from the six geopolitical zones of the country, accessed mortgages of up to 20 years at a fixed rate of 9.75 per cent per annum, with a 10 per cent minimum equity contribution.
The terms aim to provide many Nigerians with the long-term financing needed to buy homes for the first time in nearly six decades.
Tinubu stated that one of the biggest barriers to home ownership in Nigeria had been the absence of affordable long-term mortgage financing.
The President in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said: “For years, many Nigerians could afford monthly rent but could not access the type of financing required to purchase a home. That reality kept countless families out of home ownership and limited their ability to build lasting assets.
“The progress recorded by MREIF shows that with the right policies, strong institutions and effective partnerships, we can expand access to home ownership and create opportunities for more Nigerians to build wealth through asset ownership.”
Beyond the mortgages already delivered, the Fund has unlocked N221 billion in total property value and supported delivery of 475 housing units through off-take-guarantee projects.
With an average beneficiary age of 42, he said that MREIF has demonstrated strong demand among working Nigerians who have long faced limited access to affordable long-term mortgage finance.
President Tinubu also noted that MREIF is one of several complementary engines driving a wider housing transformation under the Renewed Hope Agenda, working alongside the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme and the financing interventions and social housing programmes of Family Homes Funds Limited.
He stressed that affordable mortgage finance is what converts completed units into genuine home ownership, closing the loop between construction and access.
According to him, for nearly six decades, Nigeria has struggled to build a mortgage market capable of providing affordable long-term housing finance at scale.
He said MREIF, a N1 trillion housing finance platform whose pilot phase comprises ¦ 250 billion in concessionary and commercial funding, was established to help close that gap by mobilising long-term capital for mortgage lending through a combination of government support, private sector management and institutional investment.
Building on the Fund’s early achievements, the administration expects further capital mobilisation to support increased mortgage lending, deepen participation by institutional investors and expand access to affordable housing finance across the country.
MREIF is sponsored by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and managed by ARM Investment Managers Limited. MREIF’s Series 2 commercial issuance is rated AAA by Agusto & Co. and AA by GCR Ratings, reflecting strong market confidence in the Fund’s structure, governance and long-term sustainability.
