The Federal Government has unveiled plans to drive affordable housing delivery through cooperative societies, digital finance systems, and strategic partnerships under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister for Cooperative Affairs, Aliyu Abdullahi, disclosed this through a statement issued by the ministry on Thursday.
Abdullahi said the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme would strengthen cooperative societies as vehicles for affordable housing delivery and economic inclusion.
He said, “Cooperatives remain one of the most powerful vehicles for economic inclusion, community mobilisation, self-help development, social solidarity, and shared prosperity. Through cooperative housing systems, people can pool resources, reduce costs, improve bargaining power, access financing collectively, and create sustainable pathways to home ownership”.
The minister noted that “cooperative housing has demonstrated remarkable success in promoting affordable housing delivery, reducing homelessness, strengthening communities, and improving social welfare.
“Across several countries, housing cooperatives have become strategic instruments for urban renewal, affordable home ownership, and inclusive economic participation”.
He revealed that the Federal Government planned to establish a Cooperative Bank of Nigeria to provide accessible financing for cooperative housing schemes, mortgages, infrastructure development, and community projects.
According to him, the proposed bank would operate under a cooperative ownership structure and focus on underserved Nigerians, especially workers in the informal sector.
Abdullahi stressed that “Africa’s cooperative housing ecosystem cannot operate effectively in the modern era without robust digital infrastructure”.
He assured stakeholders that the Federal Government would digitise cooperative operations nationwide to improve transparency, financial management, access to credit, and investor confidence.
The minister explained that digital finance platforms would simplify mortgage repayment systems, housing project monitoring, and cooperative member verification.
He added that the housing initiatives would prioritise women, youth, persons with disabilities, farmers, informal sector workers, rural communities, low-income earners, and other vulnerable groups.
Abdullahi also urged African governments to strengthen enabling policies, improve regulatory frameworks, support cooperative financing systems, simplify land administration processes, and incentivise affordable housing investments.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, said cooperative housing remained one of the most practical solutions to Africa’s housing deficit.
He added that technology-driven finance would improve mortgage administration and expand housing access for citizens in both formal and informal sectors.
Speaking through the statement, the Founder of Nigeria Integrated Social Housing Cooperative Ltd., Saheed Adelakun, criticised the traditional Public-Private Partnership model and advocated a “Public-Private-People Partnership” approach to affordable housing delivery.
He said, “Intended homeowners should be directly involved in housing projects for affordability to be achieved”.
Adelakun added, “We need houses that low and middle-income earners can truly afford. Government, developers, cooperatives, and homebuyers must work together.”
Also speaking, the President of the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, Hannatu Mershak, said the federation currently supervises more than 50,000 cooperatives with over 30 million members nationwide.
Mershak urged governments, financial institutions, and private investors to deepen collaboration with cooperatives to address Nigeria’s housing shortage.
