Elegushi, Channeldrill Introduce Imperial International Business City

Bennett Oghifo

A city of the future, Imperial International Business City (IIBC), is evolving in the Lekki axis, courtesy of a unique collaboration between HRM, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi and Channeldrill Resources Ltd, who are the joint developers.

Imperial International Business City (IIBC), which was presented recently, is conceived as the first self-sustaining eco-friendly smart business city that will be built in Africa, said the Managing Director/CEO Channeldrill resources Ltd., Mr. Femi Akioye.

Imperial International Business City is situated in the neighbourhood of Lekki Phase I. There are three access roads to IIBC presently; Freedom road through Lekki Phase 1 (Lekki Third Roundabout); Kunsenla Road by 4th Roundabout of Lekki Epe high way; and Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi Road by spare supermarket before Jakande. Another access road to be constructed will be through Femi Okunu by Jakande roundabout in the future.

The project offers different varied sizes of plots. The minimum plot-size is 650 sqm. Other sizes include: 800sqm, 1000sqm and 1200sqm, 2000sqm, 3000sqm and 5000sqm.

He said, “This vision is majorly about building the city for the future. There are two things that will define the future of modern cities in the world, Smart and Green and there is no better place to start this campaign in Africa than Nigeria.

“There is also definitely not a more qualified city in Nigeria to kick start this revolution than Lagos state which is the economic nerve center of Africa. One of the major keys to the sustenance of Lagos remaining that economic capital is the Lekki axis and within that axis, the Ancient Ikate Elegushi Kingdom seats at the center of the area that has been projected will account for over $50b Foreign Direct Investment in the next four years.”

Akioye said Lagos state is the 4th largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $131B equaling the economy of 42 countries, the state has over 18million population, an unbelievable growing middle class of 4-5 million people that needs a good place to live.

The state also accounts for 90% of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria within the last one year. It is also one of the largest growing cosmopolitan cities in the world and Lekki is a big part of that.

There is a lucky-deep scheme to enable those who desire a piece of the city to win a plot of land. It is called Imperial City Promo. “The Elegushi Royal Family and Imperial City have decided to give hard working citizens of Nigeria the chance to dream and be part of this future even when they cannot ordinarily afford it.

“Imperial City Promo is a special Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and awareness campaign that is happening for the first time in Africa. This is a chance for the average Lagosian and Nigerian to win a plot in a city that will become the most expensive in Africa in few years’ time for just N500.

“This promo is borne out of the vision to make the IIBC an all-inclusive project where those we refer to as the average Nigerian can aspire to and obtain a piece of the future. We want those on minimum wage, the working class men and women, your hard working social worker, the civil servant, the teacher and all other citizens who have been putting in their fair share into the commonwealth to be part of this future we talk about.

“For the very affordable fee of N500, you can become a part of the future by buying a raffle ticket for our special draws which has been approved by the Lagos State Lotteries Board.”
Akioye said, “In preparation for this massive investment that is coming to Ikate Elegushi domain, IIBC is determined not to only build a city for the future, but to build a city that will become a case study all over Africa. The future they say is for the visionary person that sees what people will see in 10 years today and that is what IIBC is about.

To help us actualize this dream, we have engaged the best contractors and consultants the western world can offer to make this a reality.

The project Consultants and contractors are: Dredging Company- Dredging International Limited- Belgium; Marine engineer and reclamation consultants- Royal HaskoningDHV- Netherlands; Infrastructure engineering consultants – Mott Macdonald- United Kingdom; and Master and town Planner- Gensler associates – United Kingdom.

The city will have roads with walk and bicycle way; waterways and lakes within the city; underground drainage; sewage treatment; water and water treatment plant; independent gas fired electricity and cooking gas piped to every house; fibre optics cable; cloud enabled Communication network and smart city/house infrastructure for willing subscribers; Mini marina and water park; Mini Gulf course; Perimeter Fencing; First Smart Shopping Mall in Africa; cloud-enabled 24 hours spy-eyed security connected to a central security center; Private Data center; and world class hospital & recovery resort within a dedicated Healthcare Zone.

The city will be zoned into Residential, Mixed used and commercial. Each zone will have low, medium and high density area within each zone. Each area will also have lagoon/water view area.