Nigeria faces $2.3tn deficit over missed infrastructure target — NIESV
Nigeria’s widening infrastructure deficit has again come under sharp scrutiny, as the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) projects that the country could face a staggering $2.3 trillion shortfall by 2043 if urgent measures are not taken to correct its slow pace of physical development.
According to NIESV, Nigeria’s infrastructure stock stands at an estimated 30 percent of its Gross Domestic Product—far below the globally recommended benchmark of 70 percent.
The projection and warning were issued at the 2025 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development programme of the Lagos Branch of NIESV.
The conference, themed “Navigating Emerging Legal and Financial Reforms: Opportunities and Implications for Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Nigeria,” assembled industry leaders, tax experts, valuers, and policymakers to assess emerging trends influencing the profession and the broader built environment.
Former Chairman of the NIESV Lagos Branch, Olurogba Orimalade, said the widening infrastructure gap underscores an urgent national challenge: the need for enhanced professional capacity, accelerated investments, and redesigned economic strategies that prioritise national development corridors, logistics hubs, industrial zones, and new valuation frontiers.
According to Orimalade, the nation’s growing tilt toward maritime assets, industrial belts, free trade zones and large-scale logistics ecosystems indicates a shift in valuation practice across the sector.
“Nigeria’s infrastructure stock makes up just about 30 per cent of its GDP, significantly lower than the global benchmark of 70 per cent. Without swift action, the deficit could reach $2.3tn by 2043,” he said.
Quoting estimates by the African Development Bank, he stressed that Nigeria requires $100 billion annually to bridge the infrastructure gap—a massive undertaking that will require coordinated planning, sustained financing and highly specialised advisory expertise.
Orimalade noted that the ongoing foreign exchange reforms have reshaped the dynamics of property development, construction costs, rental cycles and feasibility standards.
Estate surveyors, he said, are now expected to deliver more complex advisory functions beyond traditional valuation—including corridor-level advisory, concession modelling, economic diagnostics and feasibility studies.
Emerging reforms reshape real estate practice
Discussions at the conference also highlighted how Nigeria’s evolving legal, regulatory and financial landscape is reshaping the real estate ecosystem and creating new expectations for professionals within the built environment.
Delivering the keynote address on “Nigeria Tax Reform: Implications for Real Estate Transactions and Valuation Practice,” Yomi Olugbenro, Partner and West Africa Tax Leader at Deloitte, underscored the significant influence of tax policies on both real estate and construction.
Together, the sectors contribute roughly 18 percent of Nigeria’s GDP, outperforming average national growth over the last five years.
Olugbenro identified new opportunities for operators, especially those who strategically position themselves to leverage tax exemptions, incentives and specialised investment vehicles.
Among these opportunities are Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and approved collective investment schemes, which help reduce the burden of double taxation for corporate entities.
He also emphasized the importance of proper business structuring.
“Simply formalising a business can significantly alter its tax treatment,” he said, adding that unincorporated entities tend to face higher tax expenses compared to limited liability companies.
He encouraged real estate developers to explore priority sectors such as infrastructure development, mass residential housing and data centres, which qualify for tax incentives.
Olugbenro further advised that companies operating across multiple jurisdictions should strategically situate their headquarters in countries with favourable tax treaties with Nigeria to maximise treaty benefits.
NIESV calls for adaptation amid rapid legal and financial shifts
Chairman of the NIESV Lagos State Branch, Tosin Kadiri, noted that Nigeria is experiencing sweeping shifts across its legal, regulatory and financial systems.
These reforms, he said, have far-reaching implications for real estate practice, investments, valuation methodologies and overall business operations.
Kadiri explained that Nigeria’s reform agenda—spanning monetary policy adjustments, digital land administration, changes to property registration, anti–money laundering regulation and financial system restructuring—is redefining the responsibilities of estate surveyors and valuers.
“These developments shape the business environment, transform the real estate sector, and redefine the expectations placed on built-environment professionals,” he said.
“As practitioners entrusted with safeguarding value and advising on real estate assets, it is critical that we understand these changes and position ourselves to harness emerging opportunities.”
He added that Nigeria’s changing financial sector—with fluctuating interest rates, new mortgage rules and evolving capital market frameworks—requires valuers to serve not only as valuation experts but also as strategic advisers to banks, investors, regulators and government agencies.
Kadiri noted that the profession can no longer remain static.
“We must evolve. We must deepen our knowledge, upgrade our skills, embrace innovation and rethink our business models,” he said.
Sector must prepare for challenges and emerging opportunities
The Second Vice President of NIESV, Emmanuel Mark, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that the emerging legal, financial and regulatory reforms present both opportunities and challenges for professionals in the field.
He described estate surveyors and valuers as frontline contributors to Nigeria’s real estate growth and broader economic stability.
Mark said the association is aware of the pivotal role its members play in strengthening the real estate value chain, pointing out that the reforms influence investment decisions, urban development patterns and valuation standards.
“As estate surveyors and valuers, we must equip ourselves with the required expertise to navigate these reforms and continue to provide value-added services to clients,” he said.
He reaffirmed that professionalism, integrity, competence and ethical practice remain the defining attributes of the profession.
“It is our duty to remain at the forefront of the industry by continually updating our knowledge and skills,” he said.
