The Africa International Housing Show has pressed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make affordable housing a central plank of Nigeria's economic strategy, arguing the sector can drive job creation, slash poverty levels, spur industrialisation, and fuel inclusive growth.
The call comes as the 20th edition of the continent's largest housing and construction exhibition unfolds at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja under the banner "Housing Solutions for Low Income and Informal Workers in Africa".
Festus Adebayo, chief executive officer of AIHS, told attendees the Federal Government must stop treating housing as a welfare issue and reimagine it as an economic powerhouse. He said the shift would unlock Nigeria's potential for broad-based development.
"Housing isn't just about putting up structures. It's an engine that creates jobs, drives manufacturing, strengthens financial services, builds cities, improves health outcomes, stabilises families, and boosts national productivity," Adebayo said.
He noted Nigeria faces one of the world's largest housing shortages, but the deficit offers a golden chance to attract investment, expand home ownership, and accelerate growth if government backs the right policies. The AIHS chief urged the president to roll out sweeping housing reforms centred on concrete economic targets like employment, wealth generation, industrial growth, and economic spread.
AIHS has proposed setting up a Presidential Affordable Housing Delivery Council to stitch together federal agencies, state administrations, development banks, private operators, professional groups, cooperatives, and informal sector voices to drive housing change across the country.
The organisation also wants states and the Federal Government to overhaul land systems by putting registries online, streamlining title paperwork, trimming consent charges, quickening approvals, and ensuring more serviced land reaches affordable housing schemes.
On financing, AIHS pushed for wider access to patient capital through mortgages, housing cooperatives, rent-to-own options, micro-mortgages, and bespoke products built for low-wage workers and informal traders.
While praising current federal housing work, the group suggested new estates set aside substantial portions for teachers, craftspeople, traders, transporters, junior professionals, and other modest-income families through clear affordability rules.
AIHS also called for backing local building materials and fresh construction methods by boosting domestic output, driving invention, cutting import reliance, and rewarding makers of budget housing products. The show also underscored the need to deepen business-government teamwork by building conditions that pull more cash from developers, lenders, pension schemes, insurers, and other big-money backers.
