European envoys see positive impact of Eko Atlantic City on people, business

Contrary to the thinking among some Lagos residents that the Eko Atlantic City is a disaster-in-waiting, high profile visitors to the city including Lebanese president, Michel Sleiman, French minister of foreign trade, Nicole Bricq, former American president, Bill Clinton, and most recently, European ambassadors see the city’s positive impact, applauding its development along with the promoters.

A city rising from reclaimed land from the Atlantic Ocean, Eko Atlantic is a joint venture project between South Energyx Nigeria Limited and Lagos State government, and according to its promoters, it will be a new gateway to Africa designed to protect Lagos’ natural coastline from erosion and also relieve pressure on the over-stretched resources of the state, generating space and opportunity.

Dorothee Janetzke-Wenzel, the German Ambassador to Nigeria, leading high-level delegates attending the second EU-Nigeria Business Forum on a visit to the city project site, noted that the city was having a positive impact on both the people and business in Victoria Island, Lagos.

‘’This city is not only helping to save the coastline but also Victoria Island, here in Lagos, which is dear to so many people; it is also a project that has all the ingredients that we the Europeans, particularly Germans, think are extremely important in terms of sustainability, looking into the future; doing something for the surroundings of the city and, by that also, for the people of the city,” she said.

The delegation which comprised representatives of core EU member states attending the forum, included Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in co-ordination with the EU Delegation to Nigeria.

The envoys commended the city’s sea revetment, known as The Great Wall of Lagos, noting that it is now protecting not only the more than five million square metres of land that has so far been reclaimed for the city, but also the shoreline.