As excessive bureaucracy and weak institutional systems deepen informality and weaken the middle class, economist and policy innovator Elena Panaritis has urged Nigeria to place property rights reform at the centre of its economic and housing policies. Panaritis, who leads the global initiative 70 per cent Informals, spoke in Lagos during a private screening of a documentary campaign aimed at exposing the economic and social consequences of informality across developing and advanced economies.
Documentary Highlights Impact of Informality
The documentary, titled 70 per cent Informals, examined how informality affects societies through poverty, insecurity, migration pressures, lack of trust in government institutions, shrinking middle classes, and weak access to economic opportunities. Panaritis told The Guardian that informality should not be viewed merely as a poverty issue but as a broader socio-economic and institutional crisis.
“We are leading an international initiative to end informality. This documentary touches countries from the Global South and Global North to explain the impacts of informality, which are not just poverty, but also refugees, immigration, insecurity, lack of trust in the state, lack of dignity, and a collapsed middle class,” she said.
Structural Bottlenecks Must Be Addressed
Panaritis argued that many governments continue to approach housing and poverty challenges superficially without addressing the structural bottlenecks responsible for exclusion from formal economic systems. According to her, Nigeria’s estimated housing deficit of over 28 million units and low homeownership levels cannot be solved by housing construction alone without fixing land administration and property rights systems.
“Nigeria has a housing deficit, but it also has a trust deficit and an inability to secure people’s dignity. No matter how much you build, you are still running behind,” she said.
Simplifying Access to Land Titles
Panaritis said governments could significantly reduce pressure on public housing systems by simplifying access to land titles and property rights. “By greatly simplifying access to titles and property rights, you create new owners who can obtain loans and build their homes. You can connect that with PPPs for homebuilding, and that combination will be amazing,” she explained.
She blamed excessive bureaucracy for worsening informality and creating opportunities for corruption and inefficiency. “The bureaucracy is generated by the state. The government has to step in by simplifying that bureaucracy. You need to map all the processes and determine which are necessary and which are not,” she added.
Reality Check Analysis Framework
Panaritis is also the author of Prosperity Unbound, a book that challenges post-World War II economic development models and advocates institutional reforms centred on secure property rights, judicial efficiency, and public sector transparency. In the book, she argues that many global economic frameworks developed after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement assumed functioning property rights systems and efficient state institutions already existed, making them less effective in countries with weak administrative structures.
To address the challenge, she developed what she described as Reality Check Analysis (RCA), a reform framework designed to dismantle institutional bottlenecks, reduce bureaucratic barriers, and create flexible and secure property rights systems. According to her, the model produced significant results in Peru, where reforms helped reduce poverty rates from 63 per cent to 20 per cent within a decade, cut child labour by 27 per cent, and expanded the middle class by 45 per cent.
Nigeria's Potential for Reform
She said Nigeria possesses the human and institutional capacity to implement similar reforms but must prioritise administrative simplification and transparency. “Nigeria has all the right ingredients. What is missing is simplification. You have quality leaders, but you have to reduce the bureaucracy. It is too convoluted, and that is why you have rent-seeking corruption because the system is non-transparent and unpredictable,” she said.
The campaign is expected to continue screenings and advocacy engagements across several countries as part of efforts to build global awareness around the economic and social costs of informality and the need for institutional reforms.
Minister Pledges Law Review
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, has pledged to work towards a comprehensive review and implementation of Nigeria’s 1992 Urban and Regional Development Law, which has remained largely unimplemented for more than three decades. Darma made the commitment during a courtesy visit by members of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), led by its President, Ogbonna Chime, to the ministry in Abuja.
The minister said the review would be carried out in collaboration with the Regional Development Ministry to ensure the law achieves full implementation and supports effective physical planning, urban renewal and sustainable development across the country. He also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to transforming informal settlements into more dignified and liveable communities, describing urban renewal and slum upgrading as priorities of the current administration.
Focus on Informal Settlements
Darma identified several communities across the country requiring urgent intervention, including Makoko, Gishiri, and other informal settlements in Kano and Port Harcourt. According to him, the ministry’s forthcoming urban development policy would prioritise the upgrading of such communities to improve living conditions and make them more habitable for residents.
On local content development, the minister reiterated the government’s commitment to engaging indigenous consultants for projects in the built environment sector, noting that the policy is aimed at boosting employment, strengthening local expertise and enhancing professional capacity. “The ministry already trained individually about 2,000 of them to get skills in the built environment, and these young people are all over Nigeria applying what they learnt,” he said.
Embracing Innovation and AI
Speaking on manpower shortages within the ministry and the wider built environment sector, Darma urged professionals and public servants to embrace innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), stressing that technology would increasingly shape the future of work. He noted that AI would not replace professionals who understand and effectively deploy technology, encouraging continuous learning and upskilling among practitioners.
Responding to requests for improved funding for professional bodies, the minister advised stakeholders to explore innovative approaches that would help sustain their operations and professional activities. He also invited the institute to submit additional recommendations and technical input for consideration in the ministry’s forthcoming strategic development plan.
NITP's Appeal
Earlier, Chime said the visit was aimed at formally welcoming the minister and reaffirming the institute’s readiness to support the ministry in achieving its mandate. The NITP president appealed to the minister to sustain efforts towards the full implementation of the 1992 Urban and Regional Planning Law, describing it as critical to effective physical planning, orderly urban growth and sustainable development in Nigeria.
He also called for greater attention to urban development initiatives, increased engagement of indigenous town planning consultants for government projects, replacement of retired town planners and other built environment professionals in the ministry, as well as improved funding for regulatory bodies in the sector. Chime further invited the minister to the institute’s 60th anniversary celebration and 57th International Conference scheduled to be held in Lagos in October this year.
