Consistent with its mission to build cities in seemingly impossible places, Wealth Island Properties (WIP) Africa, a real estate firm, is building a city in a marshy neighbourhood nestled between two rural communities in Lagos. The communities are Ejigbo and Ikotun.
The company says it has chosen to build the city in that neighbourhood because it wants to create prosperity for investors and, by extension, the people. It believes that what it is out to build is a great city which, in its understanding, is built on great and innovative infrastructure.
As is the practice in developed economies, WIP has built infrastructure to precede the two developments—Parkway Central and Parkland Apartments—which will define the city, offering land schemes and luxury apartments that promise affordable luxury homes for over 150 families.
So far, the company has committed N150 million into building infrastructure that includes a N40-million mini-bridge fondly called ‘The Bridge of Civilisation’ which runs across a shallow canal the company has nicknamed ‘The Love Canal.’ It is expected that the bridge and canal will aid mobility within the city.
“One of the things building infrastructure brings to an environment is change in the faculty of the people. Many areas in Lagos can be categorized as urban-slum. Even the prime neighbourhoods like Victoria Island and Lekki are a mixture of shanties and cities,” Tade Cash, WIP managing director, noted.
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He explained that urban slums lead to infrastructure deficit, adding that such areas could be a hide out for social miscreants which defeats government’s vision to build cities and have a safe environment.
Cash disclosed that they come into urban slums to change narratives by building audacious infrastructure. He believes that building infrastructure in less attractive areas is a core strategy for decentralizing economic activities in over-crowded areas.
“In the last 9years, what we have consistently done at WIP Africa is to go into areas with marginal lands and build infrastructure that help people to live better lives. I often say that where you live determines how you live. The more civilized an environment is, the richer the people become. The more people we bring to the city, the more prosperity we create,” he assured.
To accomplish this mission, Cash solicited government support in terms of enabling the environment. He wants the government to make approvals easy because, according to him, these are the things that drag developments and make housing products unduly expensive.
“Our commitment at WIP Africa is to work hand in hand with the government to build houses that give people such enabling environment that helps them scale their up prosperity; we believe that coming into rural communities and building cities enables prosperity of all stakeholders involved,” he noted.
The company, as a matter of commitment and corporate philosophy, believes that making cities happen in rural communities must go hand in hand with product affordability. “It does not have to be expensive to be effective,” Cash notes, pointing out that Parkland Apartments are the most affordable within the area. A 3-bedroom apartment here sells for N18.5 million while 2-bedroom goes for N14.8 million.
