With an abundance of resources and a growing trade economy, Africa needs ports, planes and infrastructure. Countries like Nigeria, the continent’s tiger-economy – leaping forward thanks to its manufacturing and oil and gas industries – are fighting hard to capitalise on their growth but are being hindered by a lack of basic logistical investment. Now, Nigeria’s leaders and foreign investors are changing all of that – one free trade zone at a time. The model, based on China’s success story, has seen the formation of free trade zones across the country, with the biggest and most crucial one located adjacently to the country’s commercial capital, Lagos.

The Lekki Free Zone is an ambitious project with the potential to transform Nigeria’s economy, but it is still very much in development. The key focus now is to make the zone viable for business and more importantly, to set up an unprecedented suite of infrastructure that will make any logistics veteran giddy. Potentially, Lekki’s deep-sea port will be one of the most advanced in the world, and the area’s sheer size will provide for warehouses storing millions and millions of trade wares. This is all in addition to a nearby refinery, which will ensure that the zone also becomes a hub for energy exports. All this is part of a national programme. The Nigerian Enterprises Promotional Agency has set out to create a slew of free trade zones all over the country, in the hopes that Nigeria can repeat China’s story, and become the leading economy of its region. The Chinese model – which first came into force in 1988 – saw the creation of several special economic zones that employed more flexible economic policies and government measures, in order to foster growth and foreign direct investment within those areas.

Nigeria statistics

Consumer price index

147.4
July 2013

158.6
July 2014

This later led to the expansive growth of economic hubs such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which have greatly contributed to China’s double-digit surges in GDP on an annual basis. With Nigeria’s GDP stumbling at five to six percent growth in recent years (see Fig. 1), its authorities are eager to move forward and light a fire under the country’s industries.

Incentives in West Africa
As such, Nigeria’s free trade zones are set to start industrial development, improve the local economy and generate employment and technological knowledge, through incentives such as a 100 percent tax holiday, custom duties and levies, foreign ownership of investments, no restrictions on the hire of foreign employees and a complete waiver on import and export licences. Lekki specifically will have four areas covering 16,500 hectares, with each phase dedicated to specific industries and types of business. Crucially, the overarching and all-encompassing focus and basis of the zone is facilitating logistics, says Chairman Olusegun Jawando of the Lekki Free Zone Development Company in an exclusive interview with World Finance.

“We are currently in the initial stages of development, with phase one’s roads and infrastructure already in place; the refinery in phase two up and running; and we’ve started construction on the deep sea port. The next step is to develop an infrastructure throughout Lekki. Electricity in Nigeria is very epileptic and we cannot allow that to happen in the zone, which is why we are developing an independent power supply. We’ll be working on ensuring the supply of water, telecommunications and increasing the road network in and around Lekki, because all industries coming here will require these things,” explains Jawando.

Lekki deep sea port

Facts and figures:

The port can handle the largest vessels in the world, including Majestic Maersk, which at 396 metres long is the world’s largest ship
The approach channel will be 16.5 metres deep, making it the deepest in West Africa
It will cover an area of 90 hectares with room for expansion in future
It will be capable of holding three container berths and one dry bulk berth
It can handle four million tonnes of cargo
It will create over 162,000 jobs in the area
The hope is that this will foster a strong trade, manufacturing and logistics sector, driven by the local light industries and energy exports. This is why the development company has established a massive land area for warehouses that can house the millions of goods set to come in and out of Lekki through its deep-sea port and the new international airport built within the zone.

In particular, Lekki’s deep-sea port has been dubbed the port of West Africa, being the deepest and one of the largest harbours on the continent. The project itself comes at a pricy $1.35bn, funded by the federal government, state government, and private investors (see Fig. 2). But in return, the port will create over 162,000 jobs and help to facilitate decongestion at Nigeria’s other ports, built initially to handle 60,000 tonnes, but which are now handling over 100,000 tonnes of cargo.

According to the Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise, the port is designed to accommodate the largest vessels in the world and is expected to cover an area of 90 hectares with room for expansion, making it able to handle four million tonnes of cargo. Within 45 years, the government plans to see a $345bn payoff on the port, making it highly profitable. As part of the bargain, authorities have agreed to invest in significant road improvements to and from the zone. “We expect that about 25 percent of Lekki’s revenue stream will come from logistics,” says Jawando. “Nigeria is pivotal in West Africa and other countries are dependent on our industries and exports (see Fig. 3). Lekki will facilitate this and strengthen our links within the region”.

Creating new development
The hope is that Lekki will become a nerve centre for distribution for the Lagos area and nearby sub-regions. The current international airport in Lagos is extremely congested, and for many travellers, it’s common knowledge that the trip to and from the city can easily take three hours on muddy, chaotic roads. By establishing an airport in Lekki, the current hassle related to Lagos will be eliminated and by firstly focusing on the transport of cargo, Lekki will effectively become a major manufacturing and development zone.

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“It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” ~Donald Trump

Real estate is an imperishable asset, ever increasing in value. It is the most solid security that human ingenuity has devised. It is the basis of all security and about the only indestructible security.”
-Russell Sage

Everyone wants a piece of land. It’s the only sure investment. It can never depreciate like a car or a washing machine. Land will double its value in ten years or in less than that. Land is going up every day.” -SAM SHEPARD, Curse of the Starving Class

“It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” ~Donald Trump

Everyone wants a piece of land. It’s the only sure investment. It can never depreciate like a car or a washing machine. Land will double its value in ten years or in less than that. Land is going up every day.” -SAM SHEPARD, Curse of the Starving Class

Real estate is an imperishable asset, ever increasing in value. It is the most solid security that human ingenuity has devised. It is the basis of all security and about the only indestructible security.”
-Russell Sage

Our competitive advantage is derived from our track record of prompt and efficient service delivery coupled with integrity, excellence and professionalism in dealing with all our clientele

It’s a new month. Another opportunity to write beautiful chapters of life. May you fill the pages with beauty. May success be your story. Cheers to a great month ahead.

Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual's cash flow and wealth"
~Robert Kiyosaki

“Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual's cash flow and wealth"
~Robert Kiyosaki

In this New Month, your pains will be in the past, and your gains will be exalted because you shall have dominion over every challenge. Happy new month, I wish you a very blessed month ahead.

Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual's cash flow and wealth"
~Robert Kiyosaki

“It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” ~Donald Trump

Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual's cash flow and wealth"
~Robert Kiyosaki

All that you do in this new month shall be productive and successful. I want you to know that every challenge/trial/temptation that comes your way in this month will not impede your progress but serve as a stepping stone to greater heights. You will soar above every failure and disappointment, in this new month you shall experience joy unfathomable and divine peace.

I wish you a Happy and Blessed New Month�

May the Lord strengthen you to walk through the valleys of this month with grace. May He grant you the courage to shoulder your responsibilities with candour and enjoy the blessings with humility. May the Lord who knows the end from the beginning make every crooked way smooth for you and May he bestow upon you the divine peace and wisdom which will enable you to smile through the trials for they are not "problems" as the rest of the world thinks but stepping stones to the exalted position that the Almighty has prepared for you.

I wish you a Happy New month, remain blessed.

“Landlords grow rich in their sleep without working, risking or economising",John Stuart Mill, English philosopher and economist

“If you don’t own a home, buy one. If you own a home, buy another one. If you own two homes, buy a third. And, lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”
John Paulson, investor and multi-billionaire

Kobe, Japan

The longest suspension bridge in the world measures 12,800 feet across. It opened in 1998 after 12 years of construction. The three-span bridge crosses the Akashi Strait with 190,000 miles of wire cabling the roadways from the two towers. Bridge design had to account for earthquakes, high winds, and harsh sea currents crashing against the towers.

Land monopoly is not only monopoly, but it is by far the greatest of monopolies; it is a perpetual monopoly, and it is the mother of all other forms of monopoly.”
-Winston Churchill

“Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

“Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.” - Hazrat Inayat Khan, spiritualist

“Buy on the fringe and wait. Buy land near a growing city! Buy real estate when other people want to sell. Hold what you buy!” - John Jacob Astor, real estate and business mogul