By Bashir Olanrewaju
Ecobank’s Nigerian unit signed a deal with Ogun state in the country’s southwest to provide mortgage financing for civil servants that got land allocations from the government.
Under Ogun’s house ownership plan, workers who pass the risk assessment of the bank and other criteria set by the government will get Ecobank financing to acquire houses, according to the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed by the lender and the Ogun government. Beneficiaries must have worked for, at least, three years with the state government to qualify.
“Ecobank will work with the allotees, provide adequate guidance where required, review the loan applications in line with the Bank’s acceptance criteria and disburse funds for consummated transactions,” said Victor Yalokwu, Ecobank’s head of consumer banking, in a joint statement with Ogun state announcing the deal.
Jagunmolu Omoniyi, Ogun’s commissioner for housing, said the financing arrangement with Ecobank was part of the government’s efforts to ensure there are buyers for houses built under it’s plan to deliver 2,500 homes to occupiers within four years.
Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest population with more than 200 million people, is officially estimated to have a deficit of at least 18 million homes.