Mr.Vishal Jhadav, Managing Director, Crescendo Worldwide, an Indian multi-sectorial FDI consulting firm, says Enyimba Economic City (ECC) is expected to increase Nigeria and India’s trade volume to 20 billion dollars.
Jhadav told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on the sidelines of a dinner organised in his honour by Enyimba Economic Development Company (EEDC), the developers of ECC.
ECC, which is situated on a 9,803-hectare greenfield special economic zone in Abia State, is a public-private partnership (PPP) project of Crown Realties Plc, the Abia Government, and the Federal Government.
The project is being executed under the Made in Nigeria for Export (MINE) programme of the Federal Government and has currently won validation as the single largest urban development project in Africa.
ECC is a recipient of the first prize of the Global New Cities Business Plan Contest of the Chartered Cities Institute in Washington, DC, in 2019, having been adjudged to have the capacity to transform the economy of Nigeria.
“Today, India and Nigeria do about 11 billion dollars in trade, and it is fluctuating between $11 and $15 billion.
“So with this new economic city, we are targeting increasing this trade between the two countries to $20 billion.
“And we are proud to say that there are more than 76 Indian companies that have registered their interest in setting up their manufacturing facilities inside Enyimba, and these companies are from diverse sectors.
“We are speaking about companies in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, aerospace, and medical devices.
“All mixed sizes of companies are coming together and setting up their factories there, and this will not just be for the Nigerian market but for the whole African market, driving it from Nigeria.
“Our role as Enyimba Economic City and Chriscendo World Wide is that we want to drive this growth and this vision so that these 76 Indian companies, when they are functional and set up their factories, will create about 2000 to 3000 new jobs.
“They will have about 400 million dollars of trade and investments; they will extend to the whole African continent market from Nigeria.”
Jhadav said the promoters of ECC were looking towards using the city as a place and a gateway to do business with a fantastic African and world-class infrastructure.
EEC is being positioned as the place and hub to do business in Africa, with world-class infrastructure, including steady power, an intermodal logistics hub, and a destination inland port connected to two seaports by rail.
He said the EEC would provide unique investment opportunities for Indian companies and other businesses around the world.
Mr. Darl Uzu, the private sector lead for the project, also told NAN that he was committed to the project, which started seven years ago.
Uzu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Crown Realties Plc, said EEC had the capacity to transform the economy of Nigeria with impacts across Africa and the globe, noting that ECC had growth sectors not only in manufacturing.
”It is a self-sustaining live, work, and play modern city with growth sectors in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, entertainment, education, innovation and technology hubs, commercial, lifestyle, residential, and aviation.”
Uzu said that in addition to India, EECDC had other FDI consultants manning other territories.
He said Brilliance Co. Limited in China had raised 84 prospective companies, and the Commodity Development Initiative (CDI) in Nigeria had raised over 26 companies.
Uzu said that the $288.7 million required for the first phase of the project had been raised both in equity and debt.
“African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) syndicated the debt of $201.7 million, which received its board approval on Nov. 14, 2023, and currently the legal documentation of the loan is ongoing.
“EECDC also intervened on improving connectivity in the project catchment area by leading a consortium that included CCECC Nigeria Limited, Escher Silverman Global, UK, Insta-Toll of South Africa, and Afrinvest (WA) Limited to win the concessions for the two main highways.
The highways connect Enugu-Port Harcourt (200km) and Onitsha-Owerri-Aba (16 km) for a value-added concession that includes design, construction, financing, maintenance, operation, management, and tolling of the highways under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) of the Federal Government.”
According to him, Jhadav, a key partner in the EEC project, is in Nigeria to witness the commissioning of the Geometric Aba IPP, a 188 MW plant.
Geometric Power is the official power partner of the EEC, and the two projects are financed by Afreximbank, which has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 90 MW of Geometric’s electricity for the first phase of the EEC.(NAN)
