BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU
The Federal Government has said it will soon release the guidelines on Diaspora mortgage to serve the needs of Nigerians living abroad who want to own houses in the country.

Revealing this in Abuja, the Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, Mr Gimba Ya’u Kumo, said Nigerians in Diaspora would be required to make monthly contributions of the equivalent of $100 (about N16,000) over a minimum period of three years.

He said, “What we are trying to do is that by the time we develop the Diaspora mortgage model, it will be a model whereby Nigerians living abroad who want to buy houses can resort to FMBN and at the end of the day, if they do not take the mortgage, they can get refund of their money with interest.  “The product is offered to Nigerians in the Diaspora who satisfy conditions of being above the age of 18 years, earn regular income and have evidence of the right to reside in their country of residence,” he said.

Kumo said the bank is presently concluding arrangements on securing an international payment gateway through which the funds can be channeled.
Explaining the rationale behind the guidelines, Kumo said the guidelines has become necessary given the large number of Nigerians in Diaspora that wish to own homes in Nigeria and also serve as a means of reducing the housing deficit in the country.

He said, “We realised that about 17million Nigerians are living outside the country and most of them have plans to own houses and they have not been able to do so. We understand that over the years, people have been remitting money for the building or the buying of a house has not been getting good results. Stories have followed this money.

“We are going to do our case study here and in the US. If it works well, we will try to replicate in Asia and other parts of the world”.