MOFI Turns to Capital Market to Expand Affordable Housing Finance
The Ministry of Finance Incorporated is strengthening efforts to mobilise capital-market funding for large-scale housing projects and affordable mortgages across Nigeria.
MOFI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Armstrong Takang, said the approach would be implemented through the MOFI Real Estate Investment Fund, a major financing component of the Federal Government’s One Million Homes Presidential Initiative.
Takang disclosed the plan during a visit by senior members of the Housing Development Advocacy Network to MOFI’s office in Abuja.
He explained that MREIF was designed as a market-driven platform capable of attracting pension funds and other institutional capital into Nigeria’s housing sector.
The initiative is expected to provide long-term funding for housing projects while expanding access to affordable mortgages, particularly for workers and contributors to the pension system.
According to Takang, transparency and market efficiency will guide the fund’s operations, helping to strengthen Nigeria’s mortgage market and create more sustainable routes to homeownership.
The Federal Government engaged professionals from the pension, investment and financial sectors to support the fund’s governance and deployment.
Those involved include the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein; Wale Odutola of ARM Pensions; Funmi Ekundayo of STC Trustees; and Saadu Jijji of PAL Pensions.
Their experience covers pension management, trusteeship, investment advisory services, fund management and real estate financing.
MOFI also plans to work closely with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Family Homes Funds Limited and Primary Mortgage Banks to increase the reach of housing finance.
Support for mortgage institutions is expected to improve their operational capacity and help them respond to the growing demand for long-term home loans.
MREIF currently offers qualifying homebuyers mortgages with repayment periods of up to 20 years at a fixed annual interest rate of 9.75 per cent and a minimum equity contribution of 10 per cent.
By June 2026, the fund had reportedly provided ₦128 billion in mortgages to 1,859 families across 25 states.
It had also unlocked approximately ₦221 billion in property value and supported the delivery of 475 housing units through offtake-guarantee projects.
The commercial tranche of the fund has been listed on the Nigerian Exchange, creating a platform through which private and institutional investors can participate in housing finance.
Reacting to the initiative, HDAN welcomed the Federal Government’s ₦250 billion commitment to housing and described the decision to access the capital market as an important step towards addressing Nigeria’s longstanding financing challenges.
The organisation, however, advised MOFI to learn from previous federal housing programmes and work with qualified professionals and developers with verifiable records of successful project delivery.
HDAN Executive Director, Festus Adebayo, called on credible estate developers to support the One Million Homes initiative and contribute to the expansion of affordable housing.
Former Chairman of the Federal Government’s Reform Committee on Land, Dr Ugochukwu Chime, identified weak land-titling systems as a major obstacle that could limit access to housing finance.
He urged MOFI and other government institutions to support reforms that would make property titles easier to obtain, verify and use as security for mortgages and construction loans.
Another housing stakeholder, Emmanuel Akinwumi, called for a review of outdated housing and mortgage laws that continue to constrain the sector’s performance.
Mobilising money from the capital market could reduce dependence on short-term government funding and commercial bank loans. Its success will, however, depend on transparent fund management, credible project selection, secure land titles and the delivery of homes within the income range of intended beneficiaries.
