The Managing Director, South Energyx Nigeria Limited, Mr. David Frame, has said that the development of Eko Atlantic City was informed by the urgent need to protect Victoria Island from perennial ocean surge. He noted that sand filling of the area will be completed in 2023. Frame said that 50 per cent of the city has been developed, adding that infrastructure development will be completed in seven years time.
“The project began as an endeavor to protect the coastline of Victoria Island from sea erosion. It became a land reclamation project on a colossal scale, surrounded by a sea wall built to last 1,000 years. On top of this rises a solution to the chronic shortage of prime real estate in Lagos, and the need for a new financial headquarters for Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa. So, Eko Atlantic is not only providing vital space for people to live and work adjacent to Victoria Island, it is a symbol of Nigeria’s pride and pivotal in achieving the nation’s pledge to become a top 20 world economic power and a beacon for international business and tourism.
“The foundations have reclaimed the lost land that disappeared under the pounding waves of Atlantic surges during the past 100 years. The design and construction of the Great Wall of Lagos has already provided an effective marine engineering solution to stop further land depletion from Nigerian coastline along Victoria Island.
On funding for the project, he said that the company did not get money from anywhere either from state or federal government rather, the project is funded with proceeds from sale of plots. On the price for each plot, he said that plots of land are sold based on the location, stressing that they don’t have particular designs as speculated, rather, every builder must follow building regulations given by the company. He also said there is accommodation for low income earners in the society with its Eko Village, adding that there are high buildings where one can buy single bedroom, two, three or four bedrooms,depending on what a developer wants to do.
“our concept is the vast majority of people who will live and work in Eko Atlantic. They will be from middle to advanced class level. Around the world, people are looking to buy easier-to-maintain apartments and we have in the Eko Village development, a complete range of small to medium apartments which will be affordable.
“We have created jobs for 300,000 to 350,000 individuals and that alone has impacted positively on the growth of the Nigerian economy as well as the state. We are creating an area, a financial district where we will recreate 5th avenue in New York here in Lagos. Eko Atlantic can be that financial hub for the continent of Africa and there is bound to be communication links from that hub to the rest of the world. So there are substantial amount of people who have indicated interest in participating in the development of this financial district.
“In total, over 10 kilometres of land will be reclaimed in which we have already completed about 65 per cent of the sand-filling and we have another one and half kilometre of sea wall to complete. On top of that, we have to put into consideration the roads and infrastructure.
So in terms of the rim works, we project that at the end of 2022-2023, we would have finished the sand filling and the sea wall.
