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NAHB Hosts Nigerians on Housing Fact Finding Tour
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Members of the Nigerian delegation. |
Nigerian government and private industry housing officials and executives met with their NAHB counterparts recently to learn about new-home building and development methods and technologies that could help alleviate their country’s housing shortage.
Thirteen Nigerians came to Washington, D.C. to participate in NAHB’s first International Visiting Delegation Education Program, held last November.
The two-week education program, under the auspices of NAHB’s International Department, included a site visit to Victory Lakes, a 580-acre residential community being built by NAHB builder member Miller and Smith in Prince William County, Va. near Washington, D.C. The Nigerians also attended specially-prepared NAHB University of Housing classes about building technology, land planning, regulatory and housing policy, energy efficiency, green building, construction contracts, business management and more.
The Nigerian officials also met with representatives from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, USAID and the Cities Alliance at the World Bank.
The visiting Nigerians were from Kano, which, with a population of 3.6 million, is the third-largest state in Nigeria. They included legislators from the Kano State House of Assembly’s subcommittee on housing, heads of parastatals — housing corporations and building societies in Nigeria — building contractors and property developers. As with most of the country, Kano is experiencing a critical housing shortage.
International builder member Christopher Mapondera, of Nigeria, helped organize the program. NAHB members and certified instructors Chuck Breidensteine, John Barrows and Tom Stephanie led key education sessions.
For more information about NAHB’s international programs, visit www.nahb.org/international on the NAHB Web site.
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Jerry Howard, NAHB executive vice president and CEO, recently met with legislators, housing officials, builders and developers from Nigeria. |
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