Rising cement prices in Nigeria are hampering housing development plans across the country. According to a survey by The Guardian, prices of building materials have soared by over 70 per cent between January 2022 and May 2023. A 50kg bag of cement that was selling for NGN3500 (US$7.60) in 2022 now hovers around NGN4700-4800, according to the survey, due to the rise in cost of limestone, clay and gypsum. As a result, cement-based blocks, which previously sold at NGN380-400 are now selling at NGN420.
Kenneth Nduka, past president of the Nigerian Institute of Building, blamed the development on the lack of standards and price controls in Nigeria, which provide opportunities for people to exploit the weaknesses of the system in terms of indiscriminate increase in prices of materials. “What makes housing affordable is that the materials are affordable and money is available. The Nigerian economic system is marginalising the people into being poor or rich. The middle class is no longer there and everybody is trying to exist at subsistence level,” he added.
