From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Federal Government has inaugurated an eight-man Joint Technical Committee (JTC) for the full commercialisation and recapitalisation of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) for optimum performance.
The move, according to a statement released by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Thursday, is consistent with government’s promise to bridge Nigeria’s housing deficit, which hit 22 million in 2019.
The eighth-member committee; comprises four members each from the BPE and FMBN.
Speaking at the event, the Director General of BPE, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, said that the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Committee will include among others: To conduct a diagnostic review of the bank’s existing institutional framework, organisational structures and operational modality; review and harmonise all existing policies, law and regulations governing mortgage banking in Nigeria in order to identify areas that would facilitate the implementation of full commercialisation and recapitalization of the FMBN; harmonise and synchronize all the reform processes of the FMBN with the on-going reform of the Housing sector; develop strategies on how to reform FMBN that would enable it to raise funds from the money and/or capital markets without government guarantees; and undertake review of the legal, institutional and operational frameworks of mortgage banking in a few African countries and other emerging economies with a view to learning from their key success factors that can be replicated.