Implementation of AfCFTA agreement will drive demand in housing —Egbochie

The ongoing implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will stimulate more demand for housing in Nigeria, Chief Executive Officer, ATCO Homes, Mr Bartholomew Egbochie, has said.

According to him, the spike in demand for housing units would drive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country, pointing out that investors would tend to shift focus to high yielding sectors such as the real estate sector.

The ATCO Homes boss gave the opinion in a recent sectoral and economy analysis.

ATCO Homes is a thriving real estate firm with sprawling estates in top locations of Lagos

Egbochie said the pan African trade agreement, precisely the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has the potential to lift more than 30 million people out of poverty through wider trade and economic integration as the continent’s sagging intra-trade level, standing at 15 per cent of all trade engagement, is reinvigorated.

He mentioned that the movement of people and goods across borders would come under sharp focus as the visa regimes are relaxed to ease access to key commercial cities in Sahara and sub-Saharan Africa, especially among countries that have signed off on the agreement.

This intra-trading effort, he maintained, would stimulate an increased influx of investors and traders in the country leading to high demand for accommodation in places such as Lagos.

“The influx of foreigners in the country for trading and tourism will increase the demand for affordable housing. Meanwhile, the current housing units in Nigeria are far below the total demand,” the CEO said.

Egbochie added that the joint efforts of the top public policy-makers and private businesses through the formulation of cogent growth policies, conceptualisation and delivery of market-oriented products and services would help indigenes and foreign investors maximise the various benefits of the pan Africa trade frameworks.

Emphasising ATCO Homes positioning in ensuring the indigenes and foreign investors gain access to affordable, high-yielding real estate products, Egbochie explained, “At ATCO Homes, all our investment actions are driven by purpose.

“We are therefore working assiduously round the clock to ensure the expatriates and indigenes can access affordable real estate products in choice areas of Lagos, a trading hub for the nation, as the pan Africa trade agreement expands its impact.”

Recall that early this year, the Federal Government through the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr Ezra Yakusak, disclosed that it has put in place machinery to increase the competitiveness of Nigerian exportable.