The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed has explained that the 300,000 low cost housing scheme in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) will be executed by young architects and engineers in small firms.
Speaking on the plan by the Nigerian government on Monday, Ahmed said the 12-month plan will give new homes to 300,000 Nigerians across the country as included in the ESP.
“Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) is a plan that is for 12 months, designed to help the economy and also help our capacity in reaching the health challenges that we are facing as a result of #COVID-19”
“The target is to create 300,000 houses at low cost, and 80-90% of the material used in their construction will be local. We will be providing the funds through Central Bank of Nigeria to small size developers, young groups of 3-5 architects and engineers.”
She said local contractors and materials will also be deployed in the construction of roads across the country.
“Our commitment is to build a lot of rural roads to link farmers and bring into cultivation between 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of new farmlands.
“Our target is to get more people back to their farmlands as soon as possible,” she said.
The Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to develop a plan to cushion the economic effects of COVID-19.