After a successful outing in The Gambia with the 600-unit Brufut Garden which many Nigerian investors and home buyers found a haven, Taf Holdings Limited became more venturesome and the next decision was Nigeria as a compelling investment destination.
The product of that decision is the 750-unit Golf Estate, a whole new town within the Garden City of Port Harcourt, covering 40 hectares of land and offering residential and investment opportunities with strong value proposition for home seekers and investors.
This is one the of the few foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nigeria and a typical example of a successful public private partnership (PPP) initiative by the Rivers State government which signed an agreement with the company in December 2012 for the project which is being executed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) known as RivTaf Nigeria Homes Limited.
A mix of housing developments ranging from two bedroom apartments to luxury villas, Golf Estate incorporates a 9-hole golf course with other amenities such as a club house, swimming pool, tennis courts, jogging/bicycle track, a sports hall as well as shopping and recreation centres.
“Apart from being a reference point as a working public private partnership in Nigeria, this estate’s strong value proposition in terms of quick and high return on investment as well as wealth generation through job creation makes a whole lot of difference”, says Mustapha Njie, Taf Nigeria Homes MD/CEO.
With an unwavering confidence in Nigerian economy, especially the property market, based on number and strong buying power of Nigerians, Njie believes in Africa as the new destination for foreign direct investment, saying, “we have come to a stage where we should be talking about Africa taking the lead in investment”.
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“My confidence in the Nigerian market is simply because there is demand, and if we could build 600 housing units at Brufut Garden in The Gambia for a population of 1.5 million people, Golf Estate’s 750 housing units in Nigeria for a population of over 160 million people is just a scratch on the surface; again, Nigeria’s new GDP size is enough attraction for any savvy investor to bring investment into the country”, he added, noting that the GDP of Rivers State alone estimated at N30 billion per annum is bigger than those of other West African countries put together.
The most captivating thing about this estate is the value appreciation of the various housing units which could, perhaps, be explained by the quality of work that the developer has done, starting from the design to the finishing which are a mix of foreign and locally sourced materials.
“The composition of the estate is 608 apartments comprising two and three bedrooms; 31 villas comprising four and five bedrooms; 52 town houses which are all four-bedrooms. We also have a golf course where we are building 128 luxury villas comprising four and five bedrooms”, Njie said.
Continuing, he said, “when we started, the two bedroom apartments were sold for N12 million each, but today, they are sold for N15.5 million; the three bedroom started at N19 million, today it is N25.5 million; the town houses are already in secondary market and are now selling for N58 million, up from N35 million that we sold; the villas which we sold at N65 million is today valued at N85 million per unit”.
After signing the joint venture agreement for the project in December 2012, work effectively started on the estate in March 2013 and the first phase of the project is ready for occupation; the second phase will follow, while the third phase which is the golf course plus 128 luxury villas will be ready by the end of this year.
With well over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, Njie believes strongly in generation succession and so, works hard to pass on knowledge via an on-site training programme. His projects are generally incubation and growth centres for a variety of workers including engineers, electricians, builders and construction labourers.
Golf Estate employs 2,000 workers excluding sundry, one-off workers, petty traders and food venders who are everywhere on site.
“We have trained many of these workers on patience at work; we have succeeded in changing their attitude to work; we have also been able to change their technical and managerial capacity. In terms of equipment, we have empowered them by buying for them such equipment as mixers which they paid back for in four months. We have really developed their mental, financial and technical capacity”, he enthused.
CHUKA UROKO
