5 MINUTES WITH KENNEDY OKONKWO

For every new place you build, you have to develop infrastructure for that area; you have to do the roads, provide water, power, and also drainages to make things work well.

You expect a young couple showing off their first home to gush about the huge potential, the up-and-coming area and the great view. More so a seasoned property developer. yet as dr. Kennedy okonkwo, Ceo of Nedcomoaks (a property development company located in lagos) shows us around one of his new projects, he is full of the enthusiasm of a first-time buyer. in this interview with Konye Chelsea nwabogor he talks about pitfall property buyers need to avoid and also gives us an insight into his journey with property development.

What was the vision behind setting up Nedcomoaks?

The vision was to build a company that would be a market leader in property development and management in africa. and this company is living that vision with the projects that we are doing. What was your flagship project and how did you go about it?

our flagship project was to build, operate and transfer projects we had in the oniru resettlement scheme. we were practically scraping funds from friends and family members who lent us money at minimal interest rates. we did twenty-three bungalows within a space of two years. our second project was the sandton gate Court, which did not see the light of the day. we started and we sold, but due to lack of financing, the project could not be completed so we ended up selling most of the land to pay our debts. we later worked on sandton Court in Chevron, and we delivered on that. What are some of the problems you experienced then that has helped you going forward?

I’ve learnt that you need to plan properly. It’s not because you have a little bit of money, you go and embark on a project that requires ten times the capital you have on hand. I have learnt to be practical. like steve Jobs said, it is easier to connect dots when you are in front, than trying to connect it along the way. Most of, if not all your projects are located in Lagos only. Why is that so?

lagos is the commercial capital of nigeria and it is largely driven by the private sector. when you look at the real estate market in abuja, the occupancy ratio is very low. Most of the finished projects are presently not occupied and some of the tenants are defaulting on rent payment because the economy is not so buoyant. But, if you look at lagos, it is not the same. In abuja, landlords are ready to reduce rent from tenants just to make sure that he keeps paying, but lagos is more viable. What are some of the challenges you experience as a property developer in Lagos?

one of the major issues is that of the ‘omo onile’ who insist on taking money from you before you 10 begin work on your site. It is a difficult situation but we manage it. another one is the issue of infrastructure. For every new place you build, you have to develop infrastructure for that area; you have to do the roads, provide water, power, and also drainages to make things work well. What is your assessment of the Nigerian property market? It is developing and growing rapidly. There is a great deal of demand and opportunities for more foreign investors to come into the party. Tell us about your latest residential project? My latest project is the Victoria Crest 3. we hope to deliver the first phase sometime in February. we are working full stream and are at about 80 per cent completed. But we hope to commence testing of some of the houses before handover. The Victoria Crest is our first fully serviced estate. It has a central water plant, 24 hours power supply, good security, smart CCTVs; and one of the main important attributes of the project is that these are built-to-finish houses. They are not carcasses. so instead of you coming in and buying cement and all that, all you need to do is buy the house, buy your furniture and move in. also, this project has a swimming pool and a five-a-side football pitch, as well as a playground for kids. These are things that ordinarily are found in estates like Ikoyi or Banana Island, but here we are, building in Chevron for the middle income and providing these amenities, because we know that these people want to enjoy such things too. How many projects have you done since you started and which is your favourite?

we’ve done over 800 units of houses, but I think my favourite project is actually Victoria Crest because it helps me to tap into the market of the young, urban professionals, the first time home owners who are largely uncatered for. In terms of fraud avoidance, what is the safest process for purchasing a house?

one of the most important things that I keep telling people is that before you buy a house, you need to do a research to verify the title of the house, the person you are dealing with and that the property you are being sold is actually the same with the title you are holding. you also need to do due diligence on the developer; you will want to know his antecedents; is this somebody who has delivered back to back, that has integrity, how many of his projects has he delivered, has he failed and why did he fail? you also need to go to those project sites on your own, without any agents, so as to ensure that you are not being stage managed. Because, sometimes, people trust too much and they part with money without being diligent and the money simply disappears.

so I’ll always advise people to do due diligence on the legal framework and even the integrity of the physical structure. There is an abundance of luxury houses on the Island. What about affordable housing for lowincome earners?

affordable houses can only be possible in parts of the world where the government lives up to its billing and takes up the challenge of building infrastructure in the outskirts and having quality transportation network that connects satellite towns with the city itself. If you have those in place, it is easier to develop residential homes in outskirt towns like epe, Ikorodu and Badagry, because you know that the distance between those places and Marina is thirty minutes by rail and you don’t need to bother about traffic. If we have those things on ground, I am sure that the prices of houses will come down.

when it comes to using newer technology for construction, at the moment, nigeria has not caught up to it. we still want to use our conventional brick and mortar. By so doing, we cannot accelerate and

optimise the process of construction.

How’s your company playing its parts in reducing Nigeria’s housing deficit? we are doing our best, churning out houses every year. we will be commencing work early next year on our Victoria Crest 4 project, which is about 405 units. we have actually started work on the perimeter infrastructure. when that is completed, we will move into the project itself. By and large, all we know how to do is to develop houses alongside quality infrastructure.