A World Trade Centre complex is expected to open to the public in Abuja
early next year after the completion of the first phase of construction. The development will join a network of 323 locations in 89 countries,
started in 1970 with the inauguration of the first World Trade Centre in
New York City. Funded by local and foreign financial institutions, as
well as private investors, to the tune of N200 billion, or just over $1
billion, the WTC Abuja will be the largest mixed-use development in West
Africa.
Global network
A report by CNN recalled that WTC Abuja
has been under development since 2010, on a lot spanning over six
million square feet in the Central Business Area of the capital. The
location offers easy access to the city centre and the airport, with a
dual-carriage highway surrounding the site and a new light rail system
currently under construction. For business tenants, though, the most
important connections will be those with the global network of 750,000
entrepreneurs that make up the World Trade Centres Association (WTCA).
“One of the missions of WTC Abuja is to improve trade relations between
Nigeria and the rest of the world. For example, it will enable
international businesses to make investments in our community. Ties will
be forged between government agencies, non-governmenta
Construction challenges
Initially projected to open in 2013, the WTC Abuja has gone through
various design phases, and construction itself hasn’t been free of
challenges. “For example certain areas of the project have had to be
redesigned as we repositioned ourselves in order meet the ever-changing
consumer and market needs. We have also faced logistical issues such as
congestion in the ports, which has meant our building materials arrived
at site behind schedule,” said Mahtani.
Construction is now nearing
the end of the first phase, which comprises the residential and
commercial towers. The former will offer luxury apartments with modern
amenities, while the latter will accommodate businesses of various
sizes, with offices ranging from 100 to 1,440 square meters. The
buildings, at 24-storeys each, are set to define Abuja’s skyline: the
Commercial Tower is the tallest office building in the nation’s capital,
while the Residential Tower is the tallest residential building in
Nigeria. Future phases include the construction of a shopping mall and a
37-storey hotel, which will be among the tallest skyscrapers in the
continent.
Upsides and downsides
Nigeria, which has attracted
the largest amount of foreign investment capital in sub-Saharan Africa
since 2007, is set to gain international prestige from the development:
“There is no doubt that Abuja and Lagos will benefit tremendously from
high end commercial and residential real estates,” Adekunle Salau,
Ernst & Young Advisory Leader for West Africa, told CNN. “My
expectation is that if this is executed to plan, Abuja will be able to
host world class conferences and compete favourably with Johannesburg
and Cape town for international events.
It may also moderate the
cost of hotels and rents in Abuja, but more importantly it should add
significantly to the economic development of the capital, creating
employment in the service and retail sectors. The downside is that it
can also be artificially priced, thereby continuing to heat up the
already high cost of Abuja properties and secondly, the amenities may
not be developed to the quality expected from the WTA brand,” Salau
said.
………………………………………
CREDIT: Vanguard