Immediate past President of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), Nigeria Chapter, Mr Akin Opatola, has described real estate as one of the most reliable avenues for building and preserving wealth in Nigeria despite the country’s economic challenges.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Opatola said property investments in strategic locations such as Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki, Epe, Abuja and parts of Port Harcourt had recorded significant increases in value over the past decade.
He noted that real estate offers investors more than capital gains, as property can also provide rental income and serve as a hedge against inflation when investments are made in locations with strong growth prospects.
“Real estate remains one of the most reliable vehicles for wealth creation in Nigeria. Those who invested strategically and early in areas such as Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki, Epe, Abuja and parts of Port Harcourt have seen remarkable capital appreciation,” he said.
However, Opatola said many Nigerians still associate real estate investment mainly with buying and developing land, limiting the number of people who can participate in the sector.
He explained that developed property markets offer several investment options, including Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), fractional ownership, mortgage-backed investments and institutional property funds.
According to him, Nigeria is gradually embracing some of these alternatives, which could make property investment accessible to a wider section of the population.
“We understand that we currently live in a highly inflationary economy, but capital appreciation, especially in high-growth corridors, remains possible for those who position themselves strategically and early along infrastructure corridors,” he said.
Opatola stressed that the next phase of Nigeria’s real estate development should focus on opening up investment opportunities to ordinary Nigerians rather than concentrating ownership in the hands of high-income earners.
He also expressed concern over Nigeria’s limited use of locally produced building materials, saying the country was yet to fully exploit its natural resources to reduce construction costs.
“It is a drop in the ocean of what is presently happening,” he said, noting that Nigeria has abundant limestone, clay, bamboo, laterite, timber, compressed-earth technology and pozzolanic materials that could be used in construction.
He said the continued dependence on imported finishing materials and other building components was contributing to the high cost of construction and making affordable housing more difficult to achieve.
Opatola pointed to countries such as India, Brazil and Rwanda, which he said had invested deliberately in local building technologies to reduce construction costs.
He urged the government to provide incentives for manufacturers, universities and research institutions to develop and commercialise locally produced building materials while ensuring that they meet international quality standards.
“Affordable housing will remain difficult until we reduce our dependence on imports,” he said.
Comparing Nigeria’s property market with those of other African countries, Opatola said Nigeria had enormous potential because of its large population, rapid urbanisation and entrepreneurial population.
Drawing from his experience working with real estate partners and professionals across some African and European countries, he said Nigeria remained one of the continent’s biggest markets by potential.
He, however, identified areas where other African countries were ahead of Nigeria.
According to him, Rwanda has developed a more efficient land registration system, Morocco has stronger mortgage penetration, South Africa has deeper institutional investment in property, Egypt has implemented large-scale government-backed housing schemes, while Kenya has made significant progress in property technology, or PropTech.
“Nigeria’s greatest strength is demand. Our greatest weakness is execution,” he said.
He said improving land administration, expanding access to mortgages and investing in infrastructure would help Nigeria unlock its huge property market and attract more domestic and foreign investment.
Opatola added that better coordination between government and private-sector players would also be needed to address the country’s housing deficit and create a more organised property market.
