PwC has estimated that Nigeria holds at least $300 billion or as much as $900 billion worth of dead capital in residential real estate and agricultural land.
In a report on Nigerian real estate, PwC stated that the high value real estate market segment holds between $230 billion and $750 billion of value while the middle market carries between $60 billion and $170 billion in value.
Properties become dead capital when there is no valid paper conferring legal ownership to the owner as a result of lack of registration with government authorities, which makes the property untransferable.
Many Nigerians and families have large expanse of land that are deemed almost worthless because there are no legal papers backing them up.
The PwC report stressed the need to bring dead capital to life in Nigeria, adding that this will turn the economy around.
The report noted that Nigeria is underperforming its potential and unlocking dead capital is critical to stopping underperformance and boosting overall growth.
According to the report, about 95 per cent of household dwellings in Nigeria have no title or a contestable title, leading to endemic poverty as people have large expanse of land that should translate into wealth but remain poor as a result of the lack of legal paper in support of the property.
The report underscored the need to unlock and leverage on the large land property to grow wealth in the economy.
Many properties are not registered as a result of cumbersome protocols associated with title registration. Many analysts have called on government to reduce both the cost and the process of title registration in order to empower land and property owners and thereby, stimulate the economy.
