President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF) for facilitating ₦128 billion in affordable mortgage financing for 1,859 Nigerian families across 25 states under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the President noted that MREIF is one of several complementary engines driving a wider housing transformation under the Renewed Hope Agenda, working alongside the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme and the financing interventions and social housing programmes of Family Homes Funds Limited.
President Tinubu highlighted that one of the biggest barriers to home ownership in Nigeria has been the absence of affordable long-term mortgage financing.
“For years, many Nigerians could afford monthly rent but could not access the type of financing required to purchase a home. That reality kept countless families out of home ownership and limited their ability to build lasting assets. The progress recorded by MREIF shows that with the right policies, strong institutions and effective partnerships, we can expand access to home ownership and create opportunities for more Nigerians to build wealth through asset ownership,” he said.
The President said affordable mortgage financing is critical to expanding home ownership, as it enables more Nigerians to acquire completed housing units.
For nearly six decades, Nigeria struggled to develop a mortgage market capable of providing affordable long-term housing finance at scale.
To address this challenge, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF) was established as a ₦1 trillion housing finance platform. Its pilot phase comprises ₦250 billion in concessionary and commercial funding aimed at mobilising long-term capital for mortgage lending through a blend of government support, private sector management and institutional investment.
Beyond the mortgages already delivered, the fund has unlocked ₦221 billion in property value and supported the delivery of 475 housing units through offtake guarantee projects.
With an average beneficiary age of 42, MREIF reflects strong demand among working Nigerians who have historically faced limited access to affordable long-term mortgage financing.
Building on its early achievements, the administration expects the fund to attract additional capital, expand mortgage lending, deepen institutional investor participation and increase access to affordable housing finance nationwide
MREIF is sponsored by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and managed by ARM Investment Managers Limited. MREIF’s Series 2 commercial issuance is rated AAA by Agusto & Co. and AA by GCR Ratings, reflecting strong market confidence in the Fund’s structure, governance and long-term sustainability.
The beneficiaries, spread across all the geopolitical zones, have accessed mortgages of up to 20 years at a fixed interest rate of 9.75 per cent per annum with a 10 per cent minimum equity contribution, providing a pathway to home ownership that has largely been unavailable to many Nigerians for almost six decades.
