Given the TINAPA experience – a multi billion dollar public-private partnership (PPP) venture that got stuck in the Nigerian bureaucratic bottleneck - I have become somewhat less enthusiastic about government initiated projects in Nigeria.

However, on reading about the Lagos Energy City, another PPP venture – I felt a quickening within that makes the project more likely to succeed.

Lagos Energy City is “envisioned to be the first fully integrated business hub for the oil and gas industry in the Africa continent” but will also open to related businesses.

The city is a proposed 763 hectare development strategically located in Badagry Town, on the western axis of Lagos.
The project will cost $1.8 billion USD. Included in the plan is the expansion of the current Lagos Badagry highway into a 10 lane conduit that also comes with a light rail. In addition, perhaps the most important component - the city will be powered by an off-grid 130 megawatts electric plant.

The City when fully developed will comprise of two zones.

Zone 1 is the convention / tourist zone. It comes with exhibition tourist market, convention facility and convention hotels.

Zone 2 will house multinational and national companies belonging to the Oil and Gas Industry, including industries in its value chain such as financial institutions, airline companies, government agencies and commissions and IT companies among others.

Lagos Energy City is a PPP including Lagos state government, World Energetic Holdings Limited of Hong Kong, Elite Max Asia Limited of Hong Kong, Royal Orchid Holdings Limited of Hong Kong, and Transglobal Energy Funds pte Limited of Singapore. Zenith Bank Plc of Nigeria is the lead banker.

Supra Energy and Power City Limited of Thailand, the promoters of the project have since raised about $200 million USD.

Hattip: Ugo Okafor