CEM REPORT | For the Real Estate Sector in Nigeria to be a tool for economic transformation, there must be attention on data and the sector must be driven by data and technology. This is true of the saying that ‘You cannot improve what you cannot measure’; as quoted by Dolapo Omidire
Dolapo Omidire, Founder/CEO, Estate Intel
Dolapo Omidire, Founder/CEO, Estate Intel, spoke at the Stakeholders Meeting, themed “Real Estate as a tool for Economic Transformation”, put together by the Lagos Business School Alumni Association, (LBSAA) which took place 25th August at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja.
The Stakeholders Meeting which was anchored by Dr MKO Balogun, MD/CEO Global Properties and Facilities Limited, had an objective to determine how the real estate sector can be transformed to increase its contribution to the nation’s GDP which currently average 6.5%.
Being central to Dolapo’s presentation, access to organized and quality information is the empowerment needed for people to make better real estate investment decisions. There are a lot of people looking forward to invest in the real estate sector or have invested in the past and have made mistake or have seen others make mistakes. People need data especially as it is considered as one the biggest investment to ever make in a life time.
For instance, according to Dolapo, data have shown that the residential real estate stays atop all other segments of the global real estate with a whopping $260 trillion worth as at 2020. This is relative to global GDP of $84 trillion, debt security $124 trillion across the globe and equity of about $109 trillion.
In a further example, Dolapo presented a map out of cost of land from 2010 across 150 areas in all the local government in Lagos State, done for a client recently. He said “With these kind of data, we will able to track the progression of prices, trusted developers that you can work with and other information.”
Data of this nature opens insight into the size and progression of global and local real estate sector and demonstrate the impact it has and can have. Enough insight further create willingness for more people to participate and invest since they have the right information and can make good decisions. The word is empowerment.
The real estate as a tool for economic transformation also rest strongly on its capacity to mobilize investment. Dolapo said aside complexes, hotels, shopping malls and others, it is the home for people that is the most visible form of investment and probably the biggest for many people.
“The best way to create economic wealth is to create an environment where people can create their wealth. The first place to begin is by buying a home. For at least 95% of people, buying a home is one of the biggest investment they will ever make
“If the government or the private sector makes it easier for people to buy home, and create wealth, you are actually creating room for economic transformation”; Dolapo said.
However, Nigerian real estate sector suffers from infrastructural deficit and other enablers when compared to other countries.
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According to Dolapo, many countries in North America, Europe and Asia already have important enablers such as mortgages, access to finance and good infrastructure. These enablers have shot the commercial real estate market significantly.
This is against many African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, where there are still so much to do to see similar growth.
Tax is another economic transformation angle of the real estate. Dolapo said; “Properties, when done properly, is a very good revenue generator. Across the world, when taxes are demanded efficiently, used efficiently and people can feel the impact, it does the fantastic job of transforming the economy.”
