At 48 Kassim Musa Bichi, managing director and chief executive officer of Federal Mortgage Bank Limited, is a household name. His organisation has responsibility for formulating policies for Nigeria's mortgage industry targeted at providing affordable housing for the country's citizens. The importance of this basic need in the midst of paucity of adequate housing puts Bichi and his organisation in the limelight.

FMBNL is also the supervisory authority for all primary mortgage institutions such as savings and loan companies. The number of these institutions have been greatly reduced as many could not meet the minimum capital making them unqualified for government recognition while others found the enabling decree for the mortgage industry too stifling for doing business.

FMBNL now under Central Bank of Nigeria's supervision, needs to devise strategies that would boost housing available in conjunction with the ministries of works and housing. Bichi assumed the chief executive officer position of Federal Mortgage Bank in the early 1990s and has been gripping with these challenges.

Bichi is an economist and administrator. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and the Centre for Development Economics, Williams College, Massachussettes, US.

His work experience spans the banking service where he was planning officer in 1979 and later deputy chief planning officer, ministry of finance and economic planning, Kano. He later became assistant research and planning manager, Nigeria Groundnut Board, Kano.

Bichi was director of budget and special adviser to Kano State government between 1980 to 1981. He became commissioner of finance, Kano State between 1981 and 1983.

His first private appointment was as executive chairman, Mansoor Nigeria Limited. Later he was made managing director/chief executive officer, Northern Nigeria Investments Limited in 1985.

Newswatch June 29, 1998