Anas Adamu Mohammed is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Salbrix Nigeria Limited. In this interview, he speaks on Nigeria’s construction industry and other issues in the sector.
What does Salbrix Nigeria Ltd. do?
The company is a contracting and general trade outfit incorporated in 2011 as an indigenous building company.
Our services include design, construction, project and facility management and general construction logistics.
What are some of the projects that have distinguished the company?
As key players in the industry, we always strive to prove our worth through satisfactory and optimal performance in our bid to satisfy the thirst of our valued clients. Our projects are world-class, cost-effective and of high quality. We have delivered high profile projects in the education sector such as at the Gombe State University (GSU), Federal University, Kashere (FUK), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola, to mention but few, among various other World Bank-assisted projects.
As an active player in the industry, what does infrastructure say about Nigeria?
From the look of things, there are significant infrastructural gaps, as well as serious infrastructural deficits or backlogs if you like, across all sectors, with the construction sector leading.
Therefore, we are not yet there, but Insha Allah we will be. The Federal Government is trying its best on this. By way of reference, the Federal Government’s policies on Mass Housing across the 36 states, Gombe-Yola Road, Gombe-Biu Road, Kano-Maiduguri Expressway, Mambilla-Hydro Power project, Abuja-Jos-Gombe Expressway, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Dangote Refinery, Airline services within many states in the country, railway across major commercial cities of Nigeria, among several others, are quite commendable.
The major concern is the slow progress of the projects. If the speed will be improved, we may achieve a lot within the shortest period. If you take a look at the state governors, they are also doing their best.
Why do most real estate developers shy away from mass housing scheme?
These would include lack of accessibility to affordable land, lack of government support in providing primary infrastructure, inability of mortgage institutions to provide Estate Development Loans to serious and genuine developers and majority of the public sector workers cannot afford to subscribe due to extremely poor wage structure in the public sector.
Do you think the present administration’s housing policy can tackle homelessness in the country?
Housing policies are not short term; we cannot assess them within this short period, we need continuity through different administrations before we can assess them. But we hope they will take us a step forward to our dream of zero homelessness.
However, it appears there is a renewed zeal on the part of the present government to address this worrisome situation, particularly the administration’s draft mechanisms such as the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) if it sees the light of day. It is also worthy to commend the legislature, particularly the Senate, which has recently considered and passed very important motions that have direct impact on the lives of Nigerians and which include urgent need to reform housing policies and mortgage financing in Nigeria to meet the escalating housing demand in the country.
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