The first phase of the $300 million Aba Mega Mall project was commissioned on May 27, 2015, Ugo Umeseaka, managing director of the mall, in this interview with GODFREY OFURUM, says the project will reinvigorate confidence of the investing public in the commercial city of Aba. Excerpts:
What’s the relationship between Greenfield Assets Limited and Aba Mega Mall?
Greenfield Asset Limited is the developer of the Aba Mega Mall. The vision of the company is in three folds, namely, urban renewal, regeneration of communities and empowering of lives.
Why did you choose Aba for the project?
If you are looking at urban renewal, you won’t site this project in Lagos, when you have cities like Aba with dilapidated infrastructure. The community life does not have meaningful impact on the economy of the city. You find out that the level of poverty and general economic wellbeing of the citizenry is quite low as a result of years of neglect and lack of provision of infrastructure needed for economic growth.
Another reason we chose Aba is that the city has always been a centre for trade and commerce. The great thing about Aba is that it has manufacturing capacity in leather, garment and steel works. Aba is a commercial hub for South-South/South-East States, which include PortHarcourt, Calabar, Uyo, Yenegua, Enugu and Owerri.
Whatever you do in Aba, affects all the states in the South-East/South-South regions and that is why we felt that it is the key location to site this project. And if we do this and get it right, we would have affected the entire South-East and South-South regions. We would have also empowered the industrial capacity of those already in Aba, by helping cottage industries, to move to the next level.
Looking at our primary vision, which is urban renewal, we don’t just do projects, we make sure that we leave the cities better than we met them. We make sure that peoples’ lives and economic wellbeing in the city is improved.
Our target is not just to build shops, make money and run-off. We are not just building shops so that we can hand them over to government or market community to run, we are building to manage, to make sure that it is properly managed and ensure that the capacity is fully utilised, so that people can actually practice commerce in the mall.
Why do you call this a mega mall and what facilities have you provided here?
We are careful not to call it a market, because there is a picture you have, when somebody says it is a market. Off-course, it is not just to say it is a market and you eventually build a market. We are building a mall that has the capacity to run like a market in the sense that you have variety-so many outlets, trading within the same environment.
First and foremost, we signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a company that will be providing power-preliminary documentation has been signed; equipment is on its way here. Consequently there will be constant power supply in this mall, at pay as you go basis, so that people can use power as they desire. We are also going to have an entertainment centre with a cinema hall.
We will also have eateries, play areas for children and stuff like that. So, this is not your typical market. Access within the facility is properly planned and free-flowing and people will really enjoy walking through properly paved roads and green areas, not like your typical market. We are also providing relaxation spots and off-course, there will be ample security.
There will be a fire station here. And we are integrating fire fighting facilities in the construction of the mall. Consequently, we will have fire hydrants within the facility, such that you’ll always have supply of water all over.
There are toilet facilities that are tastefully furnished. We have provided best quality materials, which would be well maintained. And if you see, world-over, the market is no longer in vogue. What people do now is to build facilities that will be self sustainable, so that people can come in and enjoy the ambiance, walk around, relax and shop.
In fact shopping is supposed to be an experience-something you look forward to. Shopping is not supposed to be a chore. We want to create an environment where families can come and enjoy themselves.
We have parking facilities that can park over 5,000 cars. So we will have ample parking space. Another facility that will also distinguish us from a market is our warehousing facility. Our warehouse is going to seat in about four-hectares of land. It is going to be temperature controlled and allow long trucks to drive in and clear, while smaller vehicles would bring in the goods into the mall.
And they will have their own entrance and exit. You won’t have them blocking the main entrances, because we are building a service entrance for the trucks. So, you won’t even know how goods come into the mall.
It is a Mega Mall, because, if you compare it with a single mall, it is much bigger than a single mall. Each of our single malls seats on over two plots of land and so, they are huge facilities. Two of those will actually represent one of the major malls in the city.
And we have about seventy of those coming. So, we are believing that by the time we are done, this will be the biggest mall in the world. There is no single space where you have something like this.
What is the total budget for the project?
It will be in the region of about $300 million.
I was surprised to see many shops already occupied, which means you have started allotting spaces to people?
Yes. We have actually started allotting spaces to people. As you can see, we are already done with the first phase, which provided 2000 shops. We started allotting spaces, even before the completion of the first phase of the project, which was commissioned on May 17, 2015.
We are getting positive responses from people. In fact, we are encouraged by the way the city has responded so far. Prior to commencement of work at the site, we had several meetings with associations and groups and what is happening now is that individual groups from time to time come to see things for themselves.
One of such associations is the leather cluster-a very important sectoral group in the city. They have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with us and they have actually earmarked a particular block, where they want to stay. We have daily visits, which prompted us to acquire a bus to allow us pick traders from the various markets in the commercial city to see the progress we have made.
We have a special project account, dedicated to acquiring the shops, which are in the name of individuals, who are interested in acquiring shops at the mall. And so many people have already indicated interest by opening accounts for this purpose. We are not actually dependent on these funds to execute the project and that is why we have insisted that they should open the accounts in their names.
The money for delivering this project is already with us and that is why we can confidently say that we would deliver the entire project as stipulated.
What impact will the mall have on Aba when it is fully realised?
It will just re-kick start Aba all over again. It will re-kick start trade and commerce, it will also attract other investors and investments, because it will create the confidence that the rest of the investing community will require.
Some people are still not very confident about security, they want to be sure the environment is conducive, after the era of kidnapping, but we have proven that we are very comfortable where we are. We have not had any bad incidence and we don’t believe we are going to have any bad incidence.
In going ahead with this project, we will inspire so many Abians and other investors that are not Abians that have the interest of Aba at heart, to come back and invest. We know that it will have a multiplier effect.
In fact, the employment opportunities are enormous and the economic capacity of the city will also be enhanced enormously, because this will attract traders and buyers from all over the country and especially the South-East and South-South regions of the country.
Aba will come back to its place as the commercial hub of the South-East region and that is why we are excited and that is why we can’t wait to complete this project.
What is your advice to those yet to identify with the project?
There will always be front runners; and people that will come after the front runners. Off-course they would be accommodated. We will make sure that they can be integrated in the project. Anyway, we are doing it in phases, early comers will enjoy some concessions in price, because we expect that by the time we go deep into the other phases, confidence would have grown.
Resellers would try to make some money on initial investment, it may be little expensive for people that will come late, but everybody will be accommodated. And there are several things going on that would affect the lives of the people. This is like a model and we believe it will change the status quo in various aspects of trade life in Aba.
How has the state helped in the realisation of this project?
The state government has provided us with security, which is one of the most important and primary things we need in this place. We work in a conducive environment. This is a type of public, private partnership (PPP), in the sense that the state provided us with the land to start this-they have given us all the documents and all are in our name. So, we are enjoying a wonderful partnership with the state government.
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