KOFOWOROLA OWODE, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Haggai Mortgage Bank Limited, is a thoroughbred, highly experienced banker with a certificate from the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB). Owode has long-standing expertise in finance sourcing, disbursement, project material procurement, project evaluation and inspection. In this interview, she provides useful insights on the Nigerian mortgage industry, highlighting its areas of strengths and weaknesses. She points out how women’s role in the industry has helped its growth, among other salient industry issues.  CHUKA UROKO brings excerpts:

From your strategic position as a bank chief executive, what are your thoughts on the key drivers of growth in Nigeria’s mortgage industry?

The persistent housing deficit and unmet demand for homeownership remain the strongest structural drivers of growth in Nigeria’s mortgage sector. Between 2024 and 2026, demand for affordable housing has continued to significantly outpace supply, creating sustained opportunities for mortgage institutions such as Haggai Mortgage Bank Limited to finance home acquisition, construction, and renovation, and driving consistent demand for structured housing finance solutions.

Regulatory support and the ongoing strengthening of the mortgage ecosystem also play a critical role in sector development. Institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) have introduced reforms that improve liquidity through mortgage refinancing frameworks, enhance access to long-term funding, strengthen refinancing capacity, and promote overall financial stability.

Besides regulatory support, refinancing frameworks and strong housing demand you just mentioned, what other factors do you consider as growth enablers in your sector?

A strong capital base and institutional resilience remain key enablers of growth. Mortgage institutions with solid shareholder funds, expanding asset bases, and low non-performing loan ratios, such as Haggai Mortgage Bank, are better positioned to scale lending while maintaining strong risk discipline in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

Digital transformation and the adoption of financial technology have also reshaped the industry between 2024 and 2026. The growth of internet banking, mobile platforms, and corporate digital systems has improved customer access, operational efficiency, and deposit mobilisation, extending mortgage services beyond physical branches.

Urbanisation and the expanding middle class continue to increase demand for structured housing finance, while corporates, religious organisations, and developers are also driving demand for project financing and large-scale housing solutions.

Finally, strong leadership, governance, and execution capability remain critical differentiators. Under my leadership, supported by an experienced management team, and by God’s grace, we continue to strengthen strategic direction, risk management, innovation, and regulatory compliance, ensuring sustained institutional stability and growth.

Nigeria’s housing deficit is constantly deepened by inadequate funding. What role do mortgage banks play in expanding access to housing finance?

Mortgage banks play a central role in expanding access to housing finance by acting as structured financial intermediaries that connect household demand for housing with long-term funding sources within the financial system. Recently in Nigeria, this role has become increasingly critical due to the widening housing deficit and affordability challenges faced by many individuals and families.

One of the primary roles of mortgage banks is the mobilisation of savings and deposits, which are transformed into long-term funding for mortgage loans. This process helps convert short-term financial resources into sustainable housing finance, enabling more people to access homeownership opportunities that would otherwise be unaffordable.

Mortgage banks also design and deliver tailored financial products to meet diverse customer needs. These include home acquisition loans, construction finance, renovation loans, and development financing for real estate projects. This product diversity ensures that individuals across income levels, as well as corporate and institutional clients, can access appropriate housing finance solutions.

In addition, mortgage banks improve affordability by offering longer repayment tenors and structured repayment plans. This reduces the financial burden on borrowers and makes monthly repayments more manageable, thereby widening access to housing finance for middle-income earners.

By partnering with institutions such as the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), mortgage banks can improve liquidity in the sector. This enables them to recycle funds more efficiently and increase the volume of loans available to new borrowers, thereby expanding access to housing finance.

Furthermore, digital transformation has significantly improved accessibility. Since 2024, the adoption of internet banking, mobile applications, and digital onboarding has enabled mortgage banks to reach more customers, enhance service delivery, and streamline loan processing.

Ultimately, mortgage banks such as Haggai Mortgage play a transformative role in bridging Nigeria’s housing finance gap by making homeownership more structured, accessible, and achievable.

For many financial institutions like years, the prevailing macroeconomic pressures are a huge challenge. How is your institution responding to those pressures?

At Haggai Mortgage Bank, our response to macroeconomic pressures has been deliberate, strategic, and anchored in resilience. Nigeria’s operating environment, marked by inflationary pressures, elevated interest rates, currency volatility, and rising construction costs, has required a proactive and adaptive approach.

First, we have prioritised digital transformation to drive efficiency and scale. By strengthening our digital banking platforms, we have reduced operational costs, improved turnaround times, and enhanced customer access across geographies.

Second, we have diversified our product portfolio to reflect market realities. Our portfolio spans home acquisition, construction, renovation, and real estate development financing, along with competitive savings and deposit products. This enables us to serve a broader customer base while addressing affordability constraints in a high-interest-rate environment.

Third, we have maintained a strong focus on balance sheet resilience. Through recapitalisation and disciplined growth, we have strengthened our liquidity and capital base, enabling us to absorb macroeconomic shocks and sustain lending.

Equally important is our emphasis on risk management and asset quality. In a period when borrower vulnerability is heightened, we have reinforced our credit and risk frameworks, which have helped us maintain one of the lowest non-performing loan ratios in the industry.

We have also deepened strategic partnerships with regulators, institutional investors, and corporate clients, ensuring alignment with policy direction and improving access to funding.

Our approach has been to remain customer-focused while designing flexible financing solutions that reflect current economic realities and to continue supporting both individual homeownership and real estate development at scale.

What do you consider the biggest structural constraints in Nigeria’s housing finance system?

Nigeria’s housing finance system faces several deeply rooted structural constraints that continue to limit its growth and inclusiveness. A primary challenge is the limited availability of long-term funding. Mortgage lending is inherently long-term, yet most financial institutions rely on short-term deposits, creating a structural mismatch that constrains the maturity and affordability of mortgage products.

Closely linked to this is the issue of high interest rates, which significantly reduce affordability for the average Nigerian. In the current environment, mortgage pricing remains out of reach for a large segment of the population, thereby limiting effective demand.

Another critical constraint is the informal nature of the economy. A significant proportion of Nigerians operate outside the formal income and credit systems, making it difficult to assess creditworthiness and extend mortgage financing at scale.

We also face persistent land administration and legal challenges, including complex titling processes and slow foreclosure mechanisms. These increase transaction costs, elevate lender risk, and discourage investment in the mortgage sector.

In addition, the high cost of construction, driven by inflation, infrastructure gaps, and reliance on imported materials, continues to push housing prices up and widen the affordability gap.

Our sector is further constrained by an underdeveloped mortgage market, with limited depth in secondary mortgage systems and low overall mortgage penetration relative to peer economies.

Finally, macroeconomic instability and policy inconsistencies remain overarching challenges. Volatility in inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates affects both supply and demand, while fragmented policy implementation reduces the effectiveness of housing finance interventions.

Historically, men dominated executive positions, but women have now moved up the ladder. How has the role of women in mortgage banking evolved over the years?

The role of women in mortgage banking has evolved from limited administrative participation to strategic leadership at the highest levels of the financial services sector. Historically, women were underrepresented in core banking functions such as credit, risk, and executive decision-making, but this began to change with industry reforms, professionalisation, and the expansion of mortgage banking institutions.

Today, women are not only active participants but key drivers of growth, innovation, and governance. As of 2025, Nigeria’s banking sector has recorded a notable rise in female leadership, with about nine to ten women serving as Managing Directors/CEOs across major banks, representing roughly 30–35 percent of top leadership roles.

This is supported by insights from publications such as KPMG’s Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey (Nigeria, 2024), the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Financial Stability Report (2024), and industry analyses including “Female CEOs Take the Helm of Africa’s Banking Sector” by Finance in Africa (2025), all of which highlight the steady growth of female representation in executive leadership and its positive impact on governance and performance.

In my case, I have the privilege of serving as the Managing Director/CEO of Haggai Mortgage Bank, notably as the first female MD since the Bank’s inception, which speaks to the institution’s openness to progress and its commitment to gender inclusivity.

This evolution is not symbolic; it reflects the growing recognition that diverse leadership strengthens institutions. Across the sector, women are increasingly leading transformation efforts, driving digital innovation, strengthening risk management frameworks, and enhancing customer-centric service delivery.

This progress is also being reinforced at a regulatory level, with increasing emphasis on fair representation on boards and within executive teams. Regulators and governance stakeholders continue to advocate for more balanced inclusion, recognising its positivimpact on decision-making, accountability, and long-term performance.

Ultimately, the rise of women in mortgage banking represents both meaningful social progress and a strategic shift toward building more resilient, inclusive, and forward-looking financial institutions.

In terms of pointing the way forward for your sector, what policy or regulatory changes would you suggest to significantly improve the sector?

We must bridge the gap between policy and practical execution to transform our mortgage sector truly. From my perspective, there are three critical areas where regulatory change would have the most impact.

First, we need nationwide adoption of the Model Mortgage Foreclosure Law (MMFL). Currently, only four states have enacted this law, creating a fragmented lending environment.

As a member of the MBAN Complaints & Compliance Committee, I advocate for this because legal delays in recovering collateral hinder aggressive lending. For an institution like mine, which manages over ₦23 billion in assets while maintaining one of the industry’s lowest NPL ratios, a unified legal framework would significantly reduce risk and encourage expansion.

Secondly, we must reform the 1978 Land Use Act to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, such as the requirement for the Governor’s Consent. Digitising this process is non-negotiable. At my bank, the digital transformation initiatives I’ve spearheaded have already reduced operational costs and improved service delivery. Scaling this through a national E-GIS registry would unlock ‘dormant capital’ and speed up credit processing for all Nigerians.

Finally, we must strengthen secondary-market liquidity through the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC). As a member of the NMRC Statutory Audit Committee, I see how essential it is to maintain high governance standards to attract the long-term, low-cost capital needed to address Nigeria’s massive housing deficit.

By ensuring this funding is accessible and well managed, banks like Haggai Mortgage Bank can continue to provide the sustainable mortgage offerings needed to move the needle on homeownership. These priorities are essential to fulfilling our mission of providing quality shelter that touches lives.

What strategic priorities should industry players focus on over the next 12–24 months?

We must move beyond traditional banking toward an integrated, data-driven, and socially impactful model. Over the next 12–24 months, the focus of industry players should be on accelerating digital infrastructure. We must transition from physically heavy models to robust mobile and internet banking platforms that serve clients across borders and boundaries.

At Haggai Mortgage Bank, our digital transformation has already proven its value by reducing operational costs and improving service delivery efficiency, both of which are essential for capturing a wider deposit base in a competitive market.  Simultaneously, we must strengthen risk management and governance.

Maintaining high standards is critical to sustaining investor confidence, and our priority is to keep Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratios low through data-driven decision-making. This commitment to ethical banking and sustainable growth ensures our frameworks are resilient enough to handle large-scale transformation initiatives.

Furthermore, we need to expand product diversification for the informal sector. We cannot bridge the housing gap by focusing only on corporate clients; we must offer specialised products for individuals and owners of religious or corporate structures. By providing these strategic and reasonable offers, we fulfil our core mission to provide quality shelter that touches lives.

The housing deficit figure of 14.925 million units, released by the Federal Ministry of Housing in early 2026, provides the baseline for our intervention strategies. Additionally, the successful recapitalisation of 32 banks by March 2026 demonstrates the sector’s readiness to support a $1 trillion economy.

Within Haggai, our growth to over ₦23 billion in assets and a 2025 Profit Before Tax of over ₦1.8 billion demonstrates that stable growth is achievable even in complex markets.

Looking ahead through 2026, I anticipate several transformative trends. We are preparing for a shift toward “Green Mortgages”, in which lower interest rates may be offered for developments that use sustainable materials. We also foresee the rise of fractional homeownership models to address affordability challenges, allowing multiple individuals to co-own property.

Finally, through my role on the NMRC Statutory Audit Committee, I anticipate greater transparency in mortgage refinancing, which will attract long-term capital from pension funds and provide the low-cost liquidity needed to make homeownership a reality for more Nigerians