Achieving Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria through Mortgage Financing: Constraints and Way Forward

Abstract

This paper examines mortgage financing in Nigeria as an instrument for poverty alleviation. Data for the study were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and was analysed using descriptive statistical methods. It was found that mortgage financing in the country has not contributed significantly to poverty alleviation in the past five and a half decades due to factors, such as the poor capital base of the mortgage finance institutions resulting in inadequate loanable funds, difficulty in accessing available loanable funds by the low and middle income groups, high interest rates on available loanable funds which are unaffordable by the low and middle income groups, the Land Use Act of 1978 and inconsistent financial policies in the Nigerian financial system. The paper concludes that the mortgage market in the country can be strengthened to act as an instrument for poverty alleviation and economic empowerment. It recommends the introduction of pro-poor mortgage facilities in the mortgage industry in Nigeria as such initiative will economically empower the low and middle income groups in the country to invest in real estate through home ownership, thereby alleviating poverty.