Lagos turns to public-private partnerships as housing deficit hits 3.4 million units
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Lagos State says structured public-private partnerships will be central to closing a housing deficit that has risen to 3.4 million units and requires an estimated N6 trillion in annual investment.
The Lagos State Government has identified structured public-private partnerships as a key strategy for tackling the state's housing and infrastructure deficits, describing the gaps as both a major social challenge and a significant commercial opportunity.
The state Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Folashade Bada Ambrose-Medebem, set out the position on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, in a keynote address at the Julius Berger Luminary Soiree 2026 in Lagos, themed "The Lagos Proposition: Unlocking Value in a City in Transformation".
Citing the Lagos Economic Development Update, she said the state's gross domestic product stood at $259.75 billion on a purchasing power parity basis in 2023, making Lagos the second-largest city economy in Africa after Cairo and accounting for more than 30 per cent of Nigeria's total economic output.
The commissioner said Lagos' housing deficit had risen from 2.95 million units in 2016 to 3.4 million units, with the state requiring about 227,576 additional housing units annually and an estimated N6 trillion in annual capital investment. She cited a property price-to-income ratio of 19.2, far above the 5.0 threshold at which housing is considered severely unaffordable.
Ambrose-Medebem said the Lagos State Development Plan 2052 is built around four pillars: a thriving economy, a human-centric city, modern infrastructure and effective governance. The plan comprises 447 initiatives across 21 strategic sectors monitored through a digital delivery platform, and targets economic growth of between $800 billion and $4.838 trillion, a rise in per-capita income from $4,838 to $20,000, and an increase in the state's liveability score from 31.2 to 55.
She said the 2026 state budget stands at N4.444 trillion, with N2.338 trillion earmarked for capital expenditure and N1.467 trillion of that allocated to infrastructure, a 53:47 capital-to-recurrent ratio. Julius Berger Nigeria managing director Dr Peer Lubasch said Lagos' potential could only translate into development through effective execution.