Yinka Kolawole
3 November 2008
A primary mortgage firm, Centage Savings and Loans Limited, is set to commence the marketing of pre-fabricated houses, going for as low as N500,000, in the country.
This follows a deal granting the mortgage bank the sole franchise to market the African Sustainable House (ASH) in Nigeria and the entire West African market.
ASH which is a pre-cast house, is a low-cost German finished product approved by the United Nations for Third World Countries.
A Director of the German company that instals ASH, Mr. Oliver Klauenberg, disclosed that a contract signed with Centage gives it the sole right to market the pre-cast houses in the whole of West Africa, with a pledge to install a factory for the construction of the houses in the country before the end of the year.
He said that samples of the house are already being shipped by his company to Nigeria. AWe are bringing in samples of one bedroom, two bedrooms and three bedrooms. It is called pre-cast house with sandwich elements, and walls like the walls of an aircraft,@ he stated.
Managing Director of Centage, Mr. Johnson Gabriel Ndukwe, said that the vision of the mortgage firm to assist in the provision of affordable housing for Nigerians necessitated his banks pact with the German company, noting that the cost of the houses ranges from N500, 000 to N3 million depending on size and type.
He said that the firm has also entered into strategic alliances with other foreign companies in China, Britain and America that can help source or develop much cheaper building materials, so that the cost of housing development can be drastically reduced and brought to an affordable level of the average Nigerian.
Ndukwe said that his vision is to deploy the ASH products in changing the landscape of housing in Nigeria. The idea of the ASH is to add value to the life of Nigerians. German products are of high standard and affordable and that is why Centage is in business with them - to help change the landscape of housing in Nigeria,@ he stated.
He revealed that Centage would deploy ASH in the construction of the Umuahia ultra-modern market in Abia State, and that the ASH project is under consideration in Kwara State where the government has already started registering groups into co-operative societies. He indicated that Centage would be providing mortgage facilities to prospective buyers for these houses.
According to the promoters, the pre-cast houses could be installed in a day with the furniture and other fittings intact and also come with solar energy. The houses are insulated, maintaining a constant internal temperature, making the use of air conditioners unnecessary.
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