Real estate developers, relevant government institutions and consultancy firms are in Washington to attend a week- long capacity building session at the headquarters of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) which commences today.

The programme scheduled to run till July 1, 2011 is designed to accommodate the varied needs of the built environment sector, where participants will be schooled on America building technology, products, and procedures, land development planning and site development, business management for building professionals, green building programme, and building system council.

Packaged by a Lagos-based public relations company, Niche PR, participants were drawn from government institutions, the private sector and relevant professional associations. Mrs. Marcella Iyitor,, Chief executive officer, Niche PR, a Lagos-based public relations company which packaged the trip, disclosed that NAHB, the organisers of the programme has secured a session with the World Bank/IFC (Financial & Private Sector Development) Principal Financial Specialist, Douglas Grayson and Programme Coordinator, Olivier Hassler for discussions on housing finance, mortgages, housing, slum upgrading, secondary mortgage markets, and Private Public Partnership subsidies.

She noted that participants will also be visiting NAHB Research Center at Upper Marlboro, Maryland established in 1964. The Center has been providing third party evaluation and testing of products and materials used by builders.

Some participants spoke on their expectations from the programme. Executive Secretary, Federal Housing Staff Loans Board, Mrs. Hannatu Adamu Fika, said: “At the end of the training we would have shared experiences of each other’s country strategies for housing delivery and also build on such experiences to enhance our effective performance towards achieving the goals of Government’s vision for the year 20.20. 20’. For the Director, Works and Lands Services of Kano State Ministry of Local Governments, Alhaji Garba Murtala, “I would have updated my experience in meeting the present engineering challenges at a higher level, especially with the present approach to due process compliance in which I am playing an important role as member of Resident Due Process Team and Secretary of the Technical Evaluation Committee at the Local Government level.”

Participants are drawn from Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Federal Roads Safety Corps, Ogun State Bureau for Lands, Kano State Ministry for Local Governments, Akwa Ibom State Housing Corporation, Niger State Housing Corporation, Jigawa State Housing Authority, Afribank Estate Limited, Dinat Ventures Limited, Jubilee-Life Savings & Loans Limited, Sleek Architects and Associates, El- Salem Nigeria Limited, Century Trade Limited Ayu and Company Limited Portal Realties, HOB Nigeria Limited., Home Plus, and Righteous Construction Company.