The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has disclosed that it has concluded plans to build a N156 billion World Trade Centre.
The centre, which is located in the Central Business District of Abuja, will occupy about 40,000 square metres of land on the demolished old Bakassi Market site, near the NNPC mega station.
The centre, which is being constructed by Churchgate Group and Intercontinental Properties would, among other things, also have diplomatic status.
This was disclosed yesterday by the FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed while on a visit to the site.
The minister said that the first phase of the project would be completed by June 2013, while the funds for the construction of the centre would be sourced from local banks and real estate companies.
Senator Mohammed further explained that the Bakassi Market site was handed over to Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL), after the demolition of the market in 2003, for the development of a befitting world class shopping mall.
He said the scope of the project had however been expanded to a mega multi-purpose complex, consisting of high-rise residential and service apartment blocks, office blocks including a centre iconic tower, conference facilities and a retail shopping mall with food and beverages, as well as entertainment facilities.
“This project is a good example of a successful Public Private Partnership (PPP) and it will be used as a model to implement other upcoming PPP projects in the FCT such as the boulevard, the central park and botanical gardens, as well as the Area 10 mixed development projects,” he said.
The minister stressed that the centre would be built to be an economic development platform and a gateway to the world by connecting its members to the global trade community, in nearly 300 cities and 85 countries of the world, through a powerful array of information and services.
In his address, the managing director of Churchgate Group, Mr. Vinay Mahtani, said that the construction of the centre had already provided jobs for about 600 people with the number expected to rise to 1500 as the development progresses.
He further stated that with the location of the centre, a ring road would be constructed around the site to give it unrivalled access, with a local and national railway under construction just a stone’s throw away from it.
Mahtani added that the project would be completed in 2014 and would be in four phases.
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