Brains and Hammers Partners Kano Government on Landmark Economic City

THISDAY SPECIAL RELEASE

Nseobong Okon-Ekong

The Kano State Government has entered a joint venture development agreement with Brains and Hammers Ltd, a foremost real estate and infrastructure development company in Nigeria, for the development of Kano Economic City (KEC), a centre of trade and commerce on 117.2 hectares of land of global standards.

A statement by Brains and Hammers monday said the KEC will be strategically located along the Zaria-Maiduguri Road, a gateway to the historic city.

“This is going to be the newest market in Kano, a city boasting of 1,000 years of continuous existence as a centre of commerce,” the company added.

At the recent signing of the joint venture agreement (JVA) at the Government House in Kano, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, speaking during a brief ceremony, explained that the project will “open a new chapter in the commercial development of the state”.

The project, which was conceptualised about 12 years ago, suffered several setbacks. Upon completion, the project is expected to cost N167.5 billion and will by developed under a BOOT (Build Operate Own and Transfer) arrangement.

According to the company, the Kano State Government contributed the land as its equity while Brains and Hammers will design, finance and implement the project.

The KEC is designed to accommodate a World Trade Center, a wholesale and retail market comprising state-of-the-art warehousing facilities totaling over 80,000 sqm and over 10,000 wholesale and retail shops, an education institute, light factories/industries, a conference center, banks, office complex, health center, police station, a games park, fire station, international coach station, a five-star hotel, motel, passenger and goods motor parks, trailer park, ancillary buildings and ample green areas, among others.

The project is to be implemented in three phases over a period of seven and a half years.
Managing Director/CEO, Brains and Hammers, Mr. Umar Abdullahi, who signed the JVA on behalf of the company, said the decision of the company to work with the government of Kano on the project was based on the huge market potential and the enabling environment created by the Ganduje administration.

He promised that the company would deliver a world-class economic city that would bolster the state’s position as a major commercial nerve center for the entire West African sub-region.

He said the KEC would be a signature project for Brains and Hammers, as the company will bring to bear its competence in delivering projects on time and budget.

Abdullahi maintained that the signing of the agreement would certainly open new frontiers for the economic development of the state in its journey towards consolidating its position as a mega commercial city.
Kano State has the second largest economy in Nigeria after Lagos, boasting 308 official markets.

The KEC is expected to complement the existing markets and not replace them. To be built along the Zaria-Maiduguri Road, it is estimated that over 500,000 jobs will be created during the 90-month construction period of the project that would play a major roll in restoring Kano’s commercial glory.

The KEC is coming at a time when Brains and Hammers has established a good reputation for conceptualising, designing, financing, developing and is currently managing over 2,000 housing units with world-class quality.
The real estate company is currently building the Brains and Hammers City in Abuja comprising 3,000 housing units which are almost fully subscribed.

In addition, it has partnered the Lagos State Government in the development of a 700-unit housing project within the state.

Abdullahi exuded confidence when he told Ganduje and members of his cabinet at the JVA signing ceremony that Brains and Hammers has started receiving patronage through requests for warehouses and retail shops and would roll out prices this month.

He explained that there would be mortgage arrangements for traders and the general public with some banks that have expressed interest in the project.