Are Cooperative Societies Challenging Government in Lagos’s Urban Development?

For years, Lagos State has acknowledged a difficult truth: the city is growing faster than the government alone can plan, fund, and service. Infrastructure gaps, housing shortages, and urban sprawl have forced a quiet reordering of roles.

Today, cooperative societies are stepping into a much larger role than before: moving beyond buying housing units to funding and shaping entire developments.

Cooperative societies have long been participants in Lagos’s housing market, largely as bulk buyers of homes for their members. What has changed is how deeply they are now embedded in the development process. 

Across Lagos, especially along the Lekki–Epe corridor, cooperative-backed capital is funding roads, power, drainage, housing, and even entire city-scale developments. The result is an uncomfortable but necessary question:

Are cooperative societies beginning to challenge the government’s traditional role in Lagos’s urban development?

Aerial view of Lagos real estate growth in the Lekki‑Epe corridor

How Cooperative Housing Capital Is Financing Infrastructure in Lagos

What makes cooperative societies particularly effective in Lagos’s current development landscape is not just their scale but the structure of their capital. Unlike traditional private developers, cooperatives pool long-term member funds that are not under immediate pressure to deliver short-term returns. This allows them to finance infrastructure-heavy projects—roads, drainage systems, power connections, and site preparation, that would otherwise stall developments at early stages.

In many cooperative-led estates, infrastructure is treated as a prerequisite rather than a future government intervention. Roads are constructed to open up land, drainage is built to protect long-term asset value, and utilities are embedded early to support phased housing delivery. This approach mirrors the role government would traditionally play in opening up new urban areas, particularly on the city’s growth corridors.

Crucially, cooperative housing models spread infrastructure costs across a broad member base. Rather than relying on external borrowing or speculative sales, cooperatives finance infrastructure through collective contributions, phased development plans, and patient capital. This reduces financing risk while enabling developments that would be difficult to deliver under conventional market conditions.

As a result, cooperative societies are no longer just housing buyers or facilitators; they are emerging as de facto infrastructure financiers in parts of Lagos. This shift raises important questions about governance, accountability, and long-term urban planning, but it also explains why cooperative-backed developments continue to expand where government delivery has been limited.

How We Got Here: Lagos’s Infrastructure Reality

This shift did not happen overnight. Cooperative societies’ growing role in Lagos’s urban development is the result of gradual changes in housing demand, land access, and public infrastructure delivery over the past two decades. What began as collective savings vehicles for home ownership has steadily evolved into a development model capable of financing entire estates and the infrastructure that supports them.

Lagos adds hundreds of thousands of residents every year, yet public funding for housing delivery, road networks, drainage systems, and urban services has not scaled at the same pace.

As a result, government policy has increasingly leaned toward enabling private capital rather than directly delivering urban infrastructure. This is visible in:

• public-private partnerships

• free zone developments

• privately planned cities

But within this private capital ecosystem, cooperative societies have emerged as some of the most patient and reliable financiers.

Why Cooperative Capital Is Uniquely Positioned

Unlike banks or speculative investors, cooperative societies:

• manage pooled, long-term funds

• are less exposed to quarterly pressure

• prioritize capital preservation

• are comfortable with phased returns

This makes them unusually well-suited to urban-scale development, where land acquisition, infrastructure, and build-out can take years.

A Lagos-based real estate analyst puts it plainly:

“Cooperative societies have what most developers lack: patient capital. That patience allows them to fund infrastructure-heavy projects that banks typically avoid.”

Lagos presents a unique combination of pressures:

• chronic housing shortages

• limited mortgage penetration

• inflation-eroded savings

• rising land values

• infrastructure-led appreciation corridors (Lekki, Epe, Badagry)

For cooperatives managing billions of naira on behalf of members, real estate offers a hedge against inflation and currency volatility, especially when projects are structured over long timelines.

Unlike individual buyers who struggle with lump-sum payments, cooperatives can:

• commit to land banking

• fund infrastructure in phases

• absorb long gestation periods

This makes them ideal partners for large developments. 

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Metro Smart City: A Case Study in Cooperative-Led Urbanism

The clearest example of this shift is Metro Smart City, promoted by Metrospeed Property Development Limited.

Rather than relying solely on off-plan buyers or bank loans, the project attracted oil and gas cooperative societies, including:

• NLNG Cooperative Society

• Chevron Employees’ Cooperative

• ExxonMobil Staff Cooperative

Announcing one such partnership, Col. Dele Oyefuga (rtd.), CEO of Metrospeed, stated:

“These partnerships represent institutional confidence in the project’s long-term value and in our vision of building a properly planned city, not just housing units.”

In practical terms, cooperative funding supports:

• land reclamation

• internal road networks

• drainage and utilities

• phased residential delivery

Functions that, in another era, might have required direct government intervention.

Is This a Failure of Government or a New Model?

It’s tempting to frame this shift as government failure, but the reality is more nuanced.

Lagos State has deliberately adopted a facilitator model, where the government:

• provides land-use frameworks

• grants approvals

• enforces regulation (in theory)

• attracts private capital

An urban planning consultant explains:

“Lagos is experimenting with a hybrid city model — government sets the rules, private capital builds the city. The challenge is ensuring accountability and inclusion.”

The danger lies not in private participation but in what happens when private priorities dominate public needs.

Risks and Benefits (Who Benefits and Who Is Excluded)

Benefits

• faster infrastructure delivery

• reduced project abandonment

• higher construction standards

• institutional discipline

Risks

• rising land values are pushing out locals

• developments skewed toward higher-income users

• fragmented urban integration

• limited public oversight

When cooperatives fund cities, their members’ financial interests naturally shape outcomes, not necessarily broader housing equity.

What This Means for Lagos’s Urban Future

If current trends continue:

1. Cooperative societies will remain major city financiers

2. Developers without institutional backing will struggle

3. Urban development will cluster around organised capital

4. The government’s role will tilt further toward regulation, not delivery

The unanswered question is whether policy will catch up, ensuring private city building still serves public urban goals.

Final Thoughts

Cooperative societies are not replacing government in Lagos’s urban development, but they are increasingly challenging traditional roles by funding housing, infrastructure, and city-scale projects.

Understanding this shift is essential for:

• Investors assessing long-term value and opportunities

• Residents deciding where to live and what developments offer

• Policymakers shaping regulations and ensuring inclusive urban growth

Lagos is no longer being built by the government alone. Its future is shaped by organized capital, cooperative networks, and strategic partnerships, quietly reshaping how the city grows.

written by Morenike Akeke