Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, has invited Japan’s Chodai Company Limited to partner in delivering affordable housing and infrastructure across the country, as part of the government’s drive to address housing deficit through public-private investment.
The minister made the remarks during a meeting in Abuja with a delegation from Chodai Company Limited, a Japanese engineering and infrastructure consultancy.
The meeting was facilitated by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the federal agency responsible for promoting investment in the country.
Darma said the Federal Government remained committed to working with credible local and international investors to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing and critical infrastructure under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We are ready for partnership. The Ministry is embarking on an ambitious Social Housing Programme that will provide affordable homes for Nigerians across the country. We welcome investors and development partners who share our vision of making decent housing accessible to every Nigerian,” he said.
The minister described strategic partnerships as essential to achieving the government’s housing objectives.
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He said collaboration with experienced international firms would help improve living standards through sustainable housing and infrastructure development.
“Nigeria’s proposed Social Housing Programme will be implemented across all 774 local government areas, Darma said, with the aim of making affordable homes available in communities nationwide.”
The programme is intended to reduce Nigeria’s housing deficit by providing decent, accessible homes, particularly for low and middle-income earners who cannot afford adequate housing through the commercial market.
Darma said the initiative would include a gender-based inclusion programme that reserves a proportion of housing units for vulnerable women and children.
“The reality in many developing countries is that women and children are among the most vulnerable members of society. Our Social Housing Programme will deliberately make provisions for them to ensure they have access to safe and decent accommodation,” he said.
He said that the programme would also support other vulnerable groups, including people displaced by flooding and those affected by insecurity, banditry and insurgency.
The minister said the ministry was working with relevant government agencies to strengthen flood mitigation measures and improve urban resilience, particularly in communities vulnerable to seasonal flooding.
Darma welcomed Chodai’s interest in expanding its presence in Nigeria and praised the company’s commitment to public-private partnership initiatives.
He encouraged the company to consider extending its ongoing projects in Niger State to a local government area near the Federal Capital Territory, saying such an investment could provide quality housing for residents and workers in the Abuja metropolitan area.
“The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development remains committed to creating an enabling environment for investors. Strategic partnerships such as the one proposed by CHODAI are essential to delivering sustainable housing, modern infrastructure, economic growth, and improved living standards for Nigerians,” he said.
Earlier, the leader of the Japanese delegation, Motoko Imai, JP, said smart city development through public-private partnerships remained one of Chodai’s strategic priorities.
She said the Tokyo-based company had completed infrastructure projects across Asia and Africa and was currently implementing development projects with the Niger State Government.
Imai said the company’s proposal to the ministry centred on collaboration in road construction, housing infrastructure, hydropower generation, renewable energy and other strategic projects designed to support Nigeria’s urban development goals.
She expressed the company’s commitment to bringing its technical expertise, engineering innovation and international experience to support Nigeria’s efforts to expand housing and modernise infrastructure.
