DD
MM
YYYY

CATEGORIES

PAGES

DD
MM
YYYY

spot_img

CATEGORIES

PAGES

Home Blog Page 6457

The Implications of Regulating Lagos Real Estate Agency

By
Mutiu Iyanda
-
0
Zenvus Boundary real estate

In Nigeria, Lagos is the only state that has country status. It attains this because of its primary roles in advancing Nigerian economy and West Africa region. For the past 50 years, the state has remained the gateway to other states in Nigeria and countries in Africa. These constitute significant reasons for having different policies and initiatives from the public and private sectors, aiming at deepening socioeconomic and political development in all ramifications.

In terms of population, the state has been projected to grow to 88 million and becomes the world’s largest city, according to the University of Toronto’s Global Cities Institute. Like other mega cities in the world, housing has been one of the main problems in Lagos metropolitan areas, especially on the Island and Mainland. Before the administration of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, previous administrations initiated policies and provided enabling environment for the players in the real estate market towards the provision of adequate houses for the residents.

One of the actions is the promulgation of the law that established Lagos Estate Agency Regulatory Authority. Part of the responsibilities of the agency is to manage real estate transactions, prepares rules and regulations for the practice of estate agency in the state. “The authority will also maintain a register of estate agents, sanction unlicensed estate agency practitioners, collate data on property transactions, investigate complaints and petitions against licensed practitioners as well as ensure the payment of fees, taxes or charges on property transactions.”

According to Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department of the regulatory authority, “any developer that wants to practice the business of estate agency must obtain a license from the authority and has powers to monitor completed or uncompleted structures as well as recommendations for the revocation of subsisting right of occupancy on the property that failed to comply with notices.”

After the establishment of the regulatory authority, the state government announced registration of 50,000 real estate agents and property developers with the Corporate Affairs Commission as operators in the Lagos real estate market. Despite the significant number of the operators, the recent actions of the state government on the enforcement of the established rules and regulations towards more registrations seems not to augur well with the players. Since December, 2019, the state government, through the agency and government officials, has been informing the stakeholders the significance of registering operators. The call was renewed recently and attracted mixed reactions from the stakeholders, most importantly, the estate surveyors.

In our experience, through the monitoring and analysis of real time data on the call, we understand that 1% of public interest in real estate increases the need to know the importance of regulation in the sector by 11.48%. We equally discovered that 1% interest in real estate, between March 10 and March 17, 2020, increases public consideration of regulatory agency in the sector by 8.28%.

Who Gains? Who Losses?

Like other sectors in Nigeria, real estate sector is also with a number of groups and associations, working towards positive development in the sector. These groups and associations have over the years chide governments and regulatory agencies on perceived loathsome policies or laws. While the Society for Professional Valuation supports the state government decision on the establishment of a regulatory agency, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) and regulatory body – Estate Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) kicked over the registration of its practitioners.  SPV believes it is necessary to regulate the practice of estate agency and development. To NIESV and ESVARBON, regulating and registering its practitioners means violations to the professional rights.

Meanwhile, evidence has shown that the sector needs regulation. This according to researchers would benefit every stakeholder and ensure that the sector is free of quacks, who are destroying the image of registered practitioners including significant reduction in rental values. For instance, analysis of quacks activities by Infoprations indicates that between October and December, 2018, 77 house seekers in Lagos were defrauded of N23.1 million. On Average, a house seeker paid N330, 000 to dubious estate agents. Analysis shows that house seekers in the Mainland area of the state were duped between N100, 000 and N500, 000, while those in the Island area paid above N800, 000.

 

Nigeria Restricts Entry from United States, United Kingdom, and 11 Other Countries

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
-
2

It reads like a movie script: Nigeria is restricting entry into the nation from travelers from 13 high-risk coronavirus countries. The United States and UK made that list. Also, Nigeria has recorded five new cases. This coronavirus is teaching everyone one thing: the world is really about survival and when this is over, the decisions of states will shape the rule of engagement. More so, every part of the world will start looking for the well-being of the weakest link. Yes, if Chad has a public health issue, Japan cannot just be indifferent to it because if bad things happen, everyone could be at risk.

The federal government on Wednesday announced the restrictions of entry into the country for travellers from 13 high-risk Covid-19 countries.

The countries are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States of America, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland.

These have the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across the world.

This is the newest update from the Presidential Taskforce on COVID19 which met on Tuesday.

Nigeria Records Third Coronavirus Case Amidst Calls to Shut the Borders

By
Samuel Nwite
-
0

Nigeria has recorded its third case of coronavirus. Lagos State Ministry of Health announced that a UK returnee has tested positive for the virus and has been admitted in the Mainland Hospital.

The 30 years old observed self-isolation upon her return to Nigeria on March 13, and started to show symptoms in time. She was confirmed positive after being tested. It is the second index case that Nigeria is recording since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The Lagos State Government has commenced tracing of those she might have come in contact with, in effort to curtail the spread. The situation has once again questioned the Federal Government’s decision not to place travel restrictions on highly affected countries.

Last week, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Enahire, said that the federal government is not considering a travel restriction for now. He said the preventive measure taken so far has been focused on surveillance at entry points and self-isolation.

“Nigeria has not yet placed any travel restrictions or ban. We strongly advise against non-essential travel to countries with high levels of transition, such as countries defined now as China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran.

“We also require travellers from these countries to be in isolation for 14 days after entering Nigeria.

“This will be revised always according to the assessed level of risks. Travelers from these countries are not expected to undertake special measures, but to report immediately if there are any symptoms,” he said.

While the measures put up by the Ministry of Health appear to have kept the outbreak in check, the no-travel ban stance is posing a threat that concerned Nigerians have been pointing at.

Critics of the decision say it will aid the spread of the virus, and Nigeria doesn’t have adequate health infrastructure to contain the outbreak. For instance, the 216 persons who came in contact with the first index are still at large; efforts to trace them have been futile. So it is with the third case. It is going to be difficult to bring in those who came in contact with the index, a reason why many Nigerians believe that the solution is to restrict the inflow of people from most affected countries.

“It is time for Nigeria to review its stand on preventing this coronavirus from hitting us,” said Abubakar Sidiq Usman, Special Assistant to the Senate president on New Media. “With the way the virus is spreading, we can’t wait for it anymore. It takes measures like travel restrictions and limiting of flights into the country.”

Other African countries affected by the outbreak of coronavirus have embarked on strict measure to quell the spread, and it includes travel restrictions.

In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced that the country is imposing a travel ban on visitors from Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, US, UK and China. The ban will take effect from March 18.

On the other hand, Ghana, a West African neighbor to Nigeria has also announced that it is taking restrictive measures on the movement of people into the country from countries with more than 200 cases of COVID-19.

While South Africa and Ghana had notably taken measures similar to Nigeria’s in the past week, it did not prevent the spread of the virus. South Africa went from 1 to 61 cases in 10 days while Ghana recorded a multiplication of two cases to six in one day. Djibouti has recorded only one case, but the North African country has suspended all international flights.

Nigeria is taking other precautionary measures to contain the spread, including postponement and cancellation of events that will induce large gatherings. But the measures seem not to be what is needed to put the general public to calm. It is believed that the best way to contain the scourge is to restrict people from bringing it into the country (considering the index cases), not mainly by restricting the movement of people who don’t have the virus.

In a poll conducted on Twitter by the Punch Newspaper, asking Nigerians if they would support a travel ban, 95% of responders said yes.

In a situation where the Ministry of Health has been called out for negligence, many believe that Nigeria is becoming more vulnerable with time. The third confirmed case was reportedly not given due attention until a friend of hers repeatedly used Twitter to get the Ministry of Health and other responsible agencies to get her tested. “What if she didn’t voluntarily do the self-isolation”? Many have asked.

In the face of perceived lapses by responsible health agencies, Nigerians are scared that more infected people will enter Nigeria in no time. The entire North and Southeast Nigeria have no testing centers, making tests impossible in those regions.

Actor Idris Elba tested positive even when he was not showing any symptoms, an indication that it may take some days for a coronavirus-positive person to start showing the symptoms. And that increases the chances of spreading it.

While the call for passengers on BritishAirways flight BA 75 that conveyed the index case to Nigeria on March 13, to isolate themselves has gone out, the Nigerian senate has joined voices with other Nigerians calling on the federal government to initiate travel ban.

COVID-19, Wash Your Hands? No Vaccine, No Cure, No Plan A

By
Nnamdi Madichie
-
0
The world is obviously a democratic environment where major decisions made by governments are decided by the people. Originally a Western philosophy, most governments around the world have come to value the model in order to be accepted into the family of the global community. This is obviously good for business from Asia, through Africa, the Middle East and South America.
When a crisis hits, however, does democracy really still hold sway? I’m neither a virologist or pathologist, but we have seen them all: Ebola, Zika, SARS, MERS and now COVID-19 in different guises but wreaking the same havoc along their trail. What lessons have we learnt over the years?
Whatever happened to the narrative of “prevention is better than cure”? A good prospect if Plan A was the only option. What happens in a “what if situation” is less clear.

Wash your hands: The Global Soap Project 

OK let’s have a read of what I had to say about containment of a pandemic that occurred not too long ago ravaging especially West Africa.
In my 2016 article The business of saving lives in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – a socialimperative? Insights from “The Global Soap Project” I relied on a single case study of The Global Soap Project, a social enterprise founded by an African Immigrant resident in the US, to posit how lives could be saved in Sub-Saharan Africa in light of the Ebola pandemic that ravaged swathes of West African communities.
In that article I pointed out that:
“The Global Soap Project has much to offer in terms of “saving lives” in these communities, as the battle against the Ebola virus calls for containment measures.”
I went on to argue that our understanding of the role of social entrepreneurship in complementing community efforts in coping with pandemics such as the Ebola virus was expedient.
 

Prevention, Containment, and Cure

When is the world going to wake up to Plan A?
As for prevention, this is the obvious Plan A. It raises the question – where do these viruses come from? How can we root them out at source? We all know they are somewhere in the food chain, but perhaps the instinct of business constrains taking action.
As for Plan B (i.e. containment), while vaccines are being fast-tracked, the spread of the virus can be curtailed through personal hygiene, and the study case demonstrates how social enterprises can be leveraged at the community, national, regional and global levels.
Finally, perhaps there is a need for a Plan C? Isn’t really a shame that we have supercomputers, AI, robotics and more scientific breakthroughs than we can document, but a virus very similar to what we have been exposed to in the past, is not only locking down our homes, schools, communities, countries and the world?
COVID-19 Deja vu? Here I am just reflecting on the business of saving lives and where the world got it all wrong.

When Savings Curve Cuts Consumption Curve from Under

By
David Gani
-
2

In a previous piece, I explained the relationship between the consumption and savings functions with respect to the psychological law. To reiterate, according to Lord Maynard Keynes, that out of every penny increase in the income of an individual, consumption increases along with savings, but the former increases faster than the latter. In other words, a greater proportion of the increase is consumed.  To further flesh out my point, consider an amalgamation of the savings and consumption functions in Figure 1 below.

The two functions are directly determined by the changes in disposable income, and run parallel to each other. This relationship subsists as long as the psychological law remains true. And since man is a creature of habit, the law doesn’t change. At point A, when income was zero (0), for the individual to be able to consume at point B (autonomous consumption), he had to dis-save: running down assets, borrowing, etc. At point C, the individual now earns and his income equals his consumption, in other words, he saves nothing. From this point above, his savings starts growing in response to the rising income as shown on the vertical axis. The slope of the consumption curve is steeper than the savings curve, meaning that the former rises faster than the latter, thus giving no chance for savings to catch up.

I said earlier that man is a creature of habit, another truth is, since the universe is in a constant flux, change is inevitable. What then can change the psychological law? A strong resolve to create wealth can! You my friend must have seen the psychological law at play in your finances and believe you cannot change it. Yes, you can! If you decide today to consume less and save more out of every naira increase of your income, you will notice the phenomenon in Figure 2. Your savings curve will then rise faster than the consumption curve, intercept it from beneath, and rise above it. At this point you are becoming richer and securing your future. The fear of suddenly losing your job, or any other fear related to money will diminish.

Before the Covid-19 spread round the world and was later declared a pandemic, interest rates crashed. The Treasury Bill was worst hit. And now in the face of plummeting prices globally and the likelihood of the naira losing against other currencies, having in mind that crude oil price have dropped below the national budget benchmark. Why not free yourself from Keynes psychological law of consumption by making your own rules. Decide to consume less and save more today.

1...6,4566,4576,458...7,970Page 6,457 of 7,970

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy