The Economic and Real Estate Outlook 2017 which held yesterday at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Victoria Island, saw a great turnout of Real Estate leaders. We are grateful and thankful to everyone who participated. The keynote speaker Prof Pat Utomi delivered an excellent lecture centered around the lessons from 2016 and all the policies to watch out for in 2017.

The prospects for 2017 is centered around “Choice” and response to growth drivers factors. Choice; It is all about the choices made, poor policy choices lead to poor growth of the economy. African leaders are making the wrong policy choices and as a result, Africa is not growing- Prof Pat Utomi.
Culture(Leadership), human capital, institutions, entrepreneurship and policy choices make up the growth driver framework.

The host speaker Udo Okonjo, CEO Fine and Country, also shared some valuable insights for 2017. Below are her views;
Housing is one of the most basic human need, corruption is arguably fuelled by lack of housing. “With Real Estate sector in 2017, l see some bright lights, there are pockets of opportunities
but with pockets of opportunities you have to be creative, innovative and note the real demand” -Udo Okonjo.

Some of the other pockets of opportunities Mrs. Okonjo explored focused on the “The Real Market” which is the middle market, millennial market( housing), emerging market, migrant market and community retail. She noted the increase in growth and increase in demand for residential and commercial properties.

A comprehensive report generated from this breakfast session and Fine and Country’s Market Projection & Review will be available on demand. Do contact Victor on 08096000042 or email victor.nkwocha@fineandcountryng.com

“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself”
…Douglas MacArthur

Contrary to popular opinion, the $1 billion Eurobond offering has demonstrated that the international investment community has a strong market appetite for Nigeria.The bond was oversubscribed 7.87%, in spite of the volatility in emerging and frontier markets. This shows a commendable degree of healthy confidence by the international investment community in Nigeria’s economy.
If the international investment community has seen beyond the recession and perceived policy challenges, perhaps there are pockets of opportunities tucked in the economy which might only be obvious to the discerning investor. The astute investor who deliberately observes and digs deep stands the chance of “getting lucky”.
The first and major lesson learned from the $1 billion Eurobond oversubscription is that this market still has the capacity to deliver with the right yields.
This is a great time for smart Nigerians in the diaspora to take advantage of the favourable forex disparity and make sound investment decisions in favour of Nigeria, particularly in the real estate sector.
Most real estate offerings do not currently reflect the weight of the prevailing inflation in the economy, and therein lies the opportunity. Astute investors should take full advantage of this low pricing structure to ambitiously and aggressively invest in Nigerian Real estate especially in Lagos where the bold vision of the successive leaders have become a backdrop for economic stability and future growth.
Fine and Country is championing carefully selected pockets of real estate opportunities in the current ‘mixed signal’ market. These opportunities are parallel realities- recession on the one hand and the opportunities on the other hand. These realities are no alternative truths but palpable reality.