Lagos Bar Beach before being taken over for the project Photo Credit Idowu Ogunleye

Building under construction at the City. Photo Credit: Idowu Ogunleye

Road leading to the City. Photo Credict: Idowu Ogunleye

Another road under construction at the City. Photo credit: Idowu Ogunleye

Ongoing construction at the City. Photo Credit: Idowu Ogunleye

Road under construction . Photo Crdit: Idowu Ogunleye

Eko Atlantic City, Lagos is a city within a city, still under construction.

Standing on 10 million square metres of land reclaimed from the ocean and protected by an 8.5 kilometre long sea wall, the $6 billion Eko Atlantic City will, according to its website, be the size of Manhattan’s skyscraper district. Self-sufficient and sustainable, it includes state-of-the-art urban design, its own power, clean water, advanced telecommunications, spacious roads and 110,000 trees

The city adjoins Victoria Island district of Lagos city and the Phase 1 area of Lekki, to the north, while the entire Western, eastern and southern borders is a coastline. Eko Atlantic is expected to rise as the next generation of property on the African continent; having a total of 10 districts, spread across a land area of approximately 10 square kilometres, the city will satisfy needs for financial, commercial, residential and tourist accommodations, with a state of the art high tech infrastructure in line with modern and environmental standards.

The project is privately funded by South Energyx Nigeria Limited – the developers and city planners, a subsidiary of the Nigeria-based Chagoury Group of companies – working in strategic partnership with the Lagos State Government and supported by the Nigerian federal government. In other words, it is a public private partnership arrangement.

Notable national and international banks have been quick to capitalise on the opportunities with three of Nigeria’s biggest – FCMB, First Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank – partnering with Eko Atlantic, with support from BNP Paribas Fortis and KBC.

For savvy investors, Eko Atlantic City, according to its website “represents far more than just surging Lagos land value. As Nigeria continues its unstoppable trajectory to become the financial capital of Africa, investing in Eko Atlantic opens unprecedented opportunities for tapping into the wider potential of the continent as a whole – widely recognised as the world’s most promising growth horizon.

To get land, $1,500 per square meter(https://www.nigeriapropertycentre.com/for-sale/land/lagos/eko-atlantic-city/28542-few-choice-plots-of-land-for-sale)

Upon completion, the new peninsula, which is still under development is, according to wikipedia, anticipating at least 250,000 residents and a daily flow of 150,000 commuters. The development will also have a positive environmental impact, as it will help in stopping the erosion of Lagos State’s coastline.

The Contractors are China Communications Construction Group, a company that works in the field of marine dredging and landfill operation. Consultants are Royal Haskoning (traffic and transport expertise) and ar+h Architects. South Energyx Nigeria Ltd. a subsidiary of the Chagoury group was specifically created to undertake the development.

Testing of the sea defence system took place at the DHI Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, where models were successfully tested for one-in-a-hundred-year ocean surges, and one-in-120-year, one-in-150-year and one-in-1,000-year storms.

Photos: Idowu Ogunleye