Land price in Eko Atlantic now 40% higher than neighbouring Victoria Island

Despite economic recession in Nigeria with its crippling impact, investment interest in Eko Atlantic City is still surging. Demand for the prime land, which the city offers, is rising by the day, leading to a significant increase in price.

Land reclamation from the Atlantic Ocean for the development of Eko Atlantic started in 2008. At that time, buyers were offer land for less than $1,000 per square metre which was even less than what Victoria Island land was going for.

Today, the story has changed. As at the second quarter of this year, price of land in the city stood at  US$1,720  which is an equivalent of N523,000 per square metre, making it the most expensive prime land in Lagos. By this price, the city’s land value is now 40 percent higher than the neighbouring Victoria Island.

Victoria Island land selling at US$1,244 / N379,000 per square metre and Lekki at US$681 / N207,000 per square metre have risen by 14 and 15 percent respectively over the year. Oniru land, selling at US$579/N176,000 per square metre, has grown by 7 per cent over the year while Banana Island, selling at US$1,81/N359,000 per square metre has remained stable through the year.

Ikoyi, the coveted residential and commercial real estate address in Lagos, has shown the strongest growth over the year, growing by 22 percent from US$1,039 /N316,000 per square metre to US$1,226 / N409,000 per square metre.

Analysts are of the view that the growth trajectory seen in Eko Atlantic land values underpins the opportunities which it has in store for savvy investors. “The city harbours great investment and growth potential and the opportunities are limitless”, the analysts say.

Eko Atlantic is a grandiose project aimed to create a new economic capital for Africa. It is located next to Lagos, the current economic capital for Africa. The development of the city includes everything from sky-scrapers to luxury apartments, a new financial district, a private power-grid, and a shopping boulevard in the image of New York’s Fifth Avenue. It’s the brainchild of the Chagoury brothers, two Nigerian-born billionaires of Lebanese descent who own South Energyx Nigeria Limited, a real estate development company created to build out Eko Atlantic.

Eko Atlantic is meant to be an antidote to Lagos’s deepest recession in 30 years. The city is meant to bring 250,000 new jobs and address a housing shortage brought on by a surging population. This, and the fact that it’s privately-funded, has lent it the support of the state and federal governments. It’s being sold to investors as a valuable foothold in Africa which is one of the world’s emerging growth markets.

What makes Eko Atlantic’s development especially noteworthy is its location. The city borders Lagos directly and it is rising from the ashes of Lagos Bar Beach through the dredging and filling in of 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) worth of land. Before the project began in 2008, the peninsula was virtually non-existent, giving the city the appearance of being an island created out of thin air.

CHUKA UROKO