In this interview with BADEJO ADEMUYIWA AND EHIME ALEX, Rotimi Ojamamoye, the Group Managing Director of Assetrise Limited, a trained business development strategist and consultant shares thoughts on Assetrise’s magic wand in the real estate business
How are Nigerians reacting to your offer?
I just came back from a very privileged lunch that was attended by CEOs from reputable companies. The training was anchored by the chairman of KPMG and staff and I was invited because of the impact of what we are doing with Real Estate, not just construction but with the value of products we have created. That’s the number one impact for me! It is beyond the money but the relevance we are giving at this very right time. Number two, in terms of patronage, Palm Rich Estate has just sold over 300 plots in less than two months. To us as a business that is a good plus because if not for that innovation we will be crying in this present economy because people are very conscious of what they are spending. They are conscious of even pulling out the money from their bag because they don’t know what else will happen but with the creativity in product development, we are still able to have market value and market share to the inflation. So we are doing fine amid inflation and we will still keep doing fine by God’sgrace with better innovation.
Your Cooperative members are across the nation, how much real estate do you have on offer in Lagos and outside the state?
We have been able to create more estates due to the structure of our cooperative. People join the cooperative from abroad, they want to put their resources into something that is working. We have been able to prove this relevance Now in terms of where we have our asset, our asset is not just based in Lagos but is spread across. We have Crystal City in Ibadan. Why Ibadan? The rail station is a great connection with Lagos State, so we are futuristic that the place is going to skyrocket. Kudos to the Oyo state governor on the project that he is massively doing in Oyo state that is giving real estate a very good book. The crystal city in Ibadan is at Moniya along Iseyin Road where the train station is in Ibadan.
We have Kobape in Abeokuta. Kobe is less than 50 minute drive from Berger, a maximum of one hour. We have people who live in Abeokuta and work in Lagos. I had once stayed there and was working in the Sango Ota area. It takes an average of two-three hours to get to the Sango Ota area but from Kobape, it is 50 minutes to one hour.
Some people work and may decide to own an affordable estate close to the train station in Abeokuta, which is less than five minutes from our Real Estate at Abeokuta. We have phase I, and phase II of City Gardens in Kobape Abeokuta and we-Ofada. Due to the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, a lot of movement is going from Lagos ttowardMowe. There are a lot of people who want to live in their own houses, with affordable land they can build. So, we have an estate in Mowe-Ofada, City Ambience, which is well subscribed. The focus of Lagos right now is the Epe community. We have three estates there, the Premium Visual Gardens City, Palm Rich Estate, which is a palm tree estate, and Paroma Crescent. Our project is spread across three states, and by God’s grace, we are expanding into more states. One thing I’m sure about is expansion development is a projection for growth and the ease of doing business in the states. There are some states in Nigeria we can’t go to for now, because of security situations and so many other factors. But for the states we have mentioned, they are all feeding from the impact of Lagos State and it’s a good thing out there.
Flapcoop started in 2020. Less than two years and you have recorded such achievements. What’s the magic behind it? How do you get this land from Lagos State?
In this jet age, information technology is driving most of the businesses that have grown into billions. Take Kuda, for example, Kuda bumped into the Nigerian market last year and in one year is doing greater than others. The magic is technology, what about PiggyVest? All these tech-driving businesses are doing great in less than a few years. Technology has come to the advantage of every business, so your better use of technology can give you the better growth you need in a business. For us, we have been able to do good with technology. Kudos to the hard-working staff! I mean from the training today, the chairman of KPMG mentioned something, he said recruitment is not the function of the HR (human resource) in any company, recruitment is the function of the CEO and even the boss.
The talent your company attracts will determine the growth of your company. So, we are very careful with the kind of talent we attract. Our staff doesn’t mind working till 110 pm even overnight just to deliver a project. The growth has been magical by the hard-working staff we have, the effect of technology, and the Lagos state government has given us an even ground to play. It seems Lagos is not in Nigeria where things could work sometimes.
Cooperative has been in existence for a long time but the challenge there is that can you see what a cooperative can do today? We have 34 staff plus over 1,000 realtors who earn from us daily We have been able to create jobs, and now we are doing iconic projects. The Palm Rich Estate is the biggest in Lagos State. Palm-rich farms and a cooperative are doing this, not oil companies. What’s the magic? When people can see the good structure that is managed, sustained, and even audited by the government, there would be a level of hope in commitment. Our books are directly presented to the Lagos government as a cooperative and that puts the management on their seat to know that our books must be well because once the year ends they review your book and if it is not well you’re in trouble. This also is a catalyst to our growth and in terms of size to our growth, we have grown over,000 members. We are still growing but we have reduced our finance department. The normal model of cooperation is to take savings for development. Taking from members to create this but our model has been innovative. For example, our palm estate which has sold over 300 plots in less than two months is an innovation and people within and outside the cooperative. I mean corporate organizations are buying into the Palm Rich Estate product. This innovation gives us resources for us to be able to expand our operations and even to expand our company. Not necessarily that e have so many savings from our members that are powering this project but very iconic innovation that the market always embraces has given us very good growth.
Lastly, on the question of land issues before I was born land has been an issue whether I live or die land will still be an issue. When the next generation comes land will still be an issue. The only saving grace in real estate and I will still give it back to the Lagos state government, is the LASRRA is a great innovation by the state government. They see the potential in real estate management just like oil-producing states see potential in their oil. Lagos State sees opportunities in their land and created a regulatory body to manage them. In effect, today you can see land grabbing issues are very reduced because you see the government playing a very great impact here. Also, to the Nigerian Bar Association Bar, River State, for doing a great job by talking to the government on land issues with Omonile. Every land in the country, except those who will lie to you and sell you fake land, has an owner, and the government will tell you. I tell every investor that every buyer doesn’t buy because someone is sweet-mouthing you. Find out now because you should protect yourself then you get to the future and discover you don’t own anywhere.
One thing we are doing differently is that as Real Estate Management, we make sure we research everywhere we are buying, know the titles, and ow all that we need to pay to the government and the land owners. there are some of our documents that wthatOmoniles signed for the next four generations because of selling the areas. Once we have this document we file it to the government and it’s registered. So, you can’t come back tomorrow and tell us stories because we have claims, both from the family and government, to claim the ownership of the land, and to our members, they are safe because we do this on their behalf. We have thousands of people in terms of volume that have joined the cooperative, not necessary to do monthly contributions. When you buy into our real estate management like asset banking which is simply buying an asset, it can save you tomorrow and it can save you now. So, when you buy and you join the asset banking project automatically you enjoy the benefits of our cooperative because when you need a loan we would only look at our book and say, you own a plot of land in Visual Garden City, your land is worth N3.5 million and you need aanN200,000 to pay for your child tuition. We give it to you. When you default, you know your land is at stake, you won’t default.
What is the value of Flapcoop that breeds the real estate that is on offer?
I won’t give you a very precise value, but all our estates are worth over N2 billion in assets(to be contd)
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