N50bn required annually for slum upgrade – Minister

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has said N50bn  is needed annually to drive slum upgrade and urban development.

 He disclosed this during an engagement with the Special Assistant to the President on Policy and Coordination and the Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit, Hadiza Usman.

The engagement with CRDCU was on the 1st-3rd Quarters 2024 Performance Assessment Report on Implementation of Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverable of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which was presented by Usman.

The minister informed the CRDCU team that the ministry was seeking to deepen its urban development interventions, citing the assurance of the executive director of the UN-Habitat during a recent executive board meeting in Nairobi, adding that every kobo invested in the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade programme could leverage three folds through their institution partners.

“We need a minimum of N50bn annually revolving to drive a sustainable slum upgrade and urban development, which is key to Nigeria meeting the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. The ministry’s intervention in slum upgrades includes providing basic services like access roads, drainage, and water, among others, to make slum areas more liveable.

“We currently have over 100 projects nationwide with close to 60 already completed,” he said.

While appreciating the ministry’s significant progress since the submission of the Q3 report, he acknowledged some challenges hindering some efforts at the ministry, including the untimely release of budgetary allocation and the high cost of building materials.

He further solicited the support of the CRDCU in the area of assuring early release of budgetary allocations; partnerships with the state governments, the National Economic Council, the National Assembly, and other key stakeholders; as well as the review of the Land Use Act.

The minister disclosed that the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme currently has 10,112 housing units ongoing at 14 construction sites nationwide, which includes 3,000 housing units in 12 estates at 250 units per state, under the 2023 ₦50bn supplementary budget, and 3,612 units in Karsana Renewed Hope City, aside from the 1,500 units in Kano and 20,000 units in Lagos State.

He disclosed, “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, will next week, December 17th and 19th, respectively, be officiating the groundbreaking of two additional Renewed Hope Cities in Kano and Lagos States, consisting of 2,500 units in Ibeju, Lekki, Lagos, and 1,500 units in Kano, saying that the funding was by the FMBN and a public-private partnership arrangement.

“The ministry has embraced the PPP arrangement to complement the insufficiency of funding from the budgetary allocation.”

Expressing concerns that the housing problems in the nation require at least 550,000 housing units annually over the next 10 years to close the deficit, the minister asserted that the ministry has achieved significant progress under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The ministry needs a bigger budgetary allocation for housing units. We have engaged the National Assembly recently, and they have expressed willingness to support a N500bn budget for the ministry in 2025. We would like the CRDCU to also help us support and push for this course,” he added.