Housing Deficit: Developer Promises 1,000 Homes For Nigerians In 10 years

In celebration of the 2023 World Habitat Day, a real estate agency, Roomeo Construction Company, has said it has set an audacious goal of providing 1,000 homes for Nigerians within 10 years, starting in 2024, in order to eliminate barriers to attaining gainful and sustainable returns on real estate. Speaking Monday in Abuja, during the launch of a debut 12-unit, 2-bedroom serviced apartment building in Kaura District of Abuja, known as Sequence 1, the founder/CEO of Roomeo Construct Limited, Mr. Doyin Adewola, said the intervention of the company is to encourage affordable and sustainable urban housing in Abuja. He said: “Our world is facing unprecedented challenges regarding sustainability and it’s up to every one of us to take action to make a difference. Let’s consider what we can do to ensure our habitats remain vibrant and healthy for generations. The Theme to mark World Habitat Day this year is Resilient Urban Economies, and we will look at how cities can drive growth and recovery. “Our cities in Nigeria can be a powerful driver of growth and recovery by investing in infrastructure, promoting innovation, and fostering a supportive business environment. Cities can also attract new businesses and talent by offering a high quality of life, access to education and healthcare, and a diverse and inclusive community. “We at Roomeo have set an audacious 10-year goal to provide 1,000 homes for Nigerians starting in 2024. We will continue to eliminate the barriers to attaining gainful and sustainable returns on real estate. We ask that you join us as we make our dream a reality.” Also speaking, Director, Department of Development Control, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Town Planner Mukhtar Galadima Usman, advised real estate firms to always adhere to approved building plans, lamenting that many realtors have been in the habit of cutting corners, hence the prevalent building collapse. Similarly, a construction engineer, Engr. Dr. Otunba Victor Omo-Raydon, said the government must identify and prosecute landowners, investors, consultants, architects, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, and project managers involved in cutting corners to curb the menace of building collapse, lamenting government was not doing much in this aspect.

Int’l Day of the Disappeared: 23000 people missing in 10 years -Minister

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu says that 23,000 people have been reported missing in less than a decade due to the insurgency in some parts of the country. Edu said this in Abuja at a stakeholders’ engagement with the theme “Where are you now”, to mark the International Day of the Disappeared. She said that the figure represented half the number of missing people in the whole of Africa. Edu said that the report of the missing people released by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) was as a result of the insurgency in some parts of the country. “Today, over 23,000 persons are still missing. “However, it is likely that this is just a tip of the iceberg as a more efficient mechanism is needed to improve the reporting and forensically trace cases of missing persons,” she said. The minister said the issue of missing people had become one of the most critical and long-lasting humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts, and as such called for sober reflections. Edu said that the present administration was committed to curbing the issue, hence the need to facilitate and strengthen the legal frameworks that would substantially address the incidences of disappearance. Mr Yann Bonzon, Head of Delegation, ICRC, said that more than 23,000 people, registered by the Family Links Network in Nigeria, never returned home, and remained missing until date. Bonzon said that the number did not convey the true extent of the issue. “The actual number of missing persons is likely to be much higher, with Nigeria having more missing people than any other country on the continent. “Until a national mechanism is created, immediate steps must be taken by the Nigerian government to prevent disappearances, to prevent the disruption of family links and maintaining links between separated family members. “It will also help to address proper management of the dead,” he said. Bonzon said that ICRC would continue to work closely with the government and relevant stakeholders to prevent disappearances to encourage and promote the adoption of international best practices. He said that the ICRC would also support the Nigerian authorities to build sustainable capacities and resources to establish a national mechanism for the missing and their families. “Let us collectively remind ourselves that while people might be gone, they will never be forgotten, and their families will never stop searching for them,” he added. The group walked from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the National Human Rights Commission, to create awareness. 

Emerging, developing economies need $2trn in climate financing – IEA

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said there is desperate need for a seven fold increase in clean energy financing in emerging and developing economies in the next 10 years if global warming is to be capped at tolerable levels. According to the IEA, financing needs to move from its present $260 billion to nearly $2 trillion in order keep temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels, annual investments in non-fossil fuel energy in emerging and developing economies.   “Financing clean energy in the emerging and developing world is the fault line of reaching international climate goals,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. The report released on the eve of the two-day Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, seeks to galvanise support for revamping the mid-20th century architecture governing financial flows from rich to developing nations. G20 nations are historically responsible for 80 percent of global carbon emissions, which are wreaking havoc on the earth’s climate. According to Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, “Many vulnerable, lower-income states have been overwhelmed by economic shocks, debts they cannot pay, and the effects of climate change – a crisis to which they contributed very little, but which is costing people in these countries dearly,” “These are unprecedented challenges that require a rethink of how the world’s financial architecture is set up,” Speeding the transition from dirty to clean energy and helping emerging and developing economies cope with and prepare for devastating climate impacts are high on the summit agenda. Nearly 800 million people lack electricity and 2.4 billion have no access to clean cooking fuels, most of whom reside in poor and emerging countries. Under current policy trends, one-third of the rise in energy use in these nations over the next decade will be met by burning fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming, the IEA warned. According to Birol, investments in clean energy are increasing, but “the bad news is that more than 90 percent of that increase in clean energy since the Paris Agreement in 2015 comes from advanced economies and China.” To unlock the potential for clean energy in emerging and developing economies, the report emphasized the need for greater international technical, regulatory and financial support. Based on the IEA’s report, two-thirds of the financing for clean energy projects in emerging and developing economies excluding China “will need to come from the private sector” because public sector investments are “insufficient to deliver universal access to energy and tackle climate change”. According to the IEA report, there is potential for rapidly ramping up renewable energy. Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity generation across almost the entire world. At least 40 percent of the global solar radiation reaching the planet lands on sub-Saharan Africa, and yet nearly 10 times more solar capacity was installed in China last year than across the entire African continent.