Nigeria's capital city of Abuja is about to get a new heart: a brand new World Trade Center complex.
The development is expected to open to the public early next year after the completion of the first phase of construction. It will join a network of 323 locations in 89 countries, started in 1970 with the inauguration of the first World Trade Center in New York City.
Funded by local and foreign financial institutions, as well as private investors, to the tune of 200 billion Nigerian Naira, or just over $1 billion, the WTC Abuja will be the largest mixed-use development in West Africa.
Well connected
WTC Abuja has been under development since 2010, on a lot spanning over six million square feet in the Central Business Area of the capital.
The location offers easy access to the city center and the airport, with a dual-carriage highway surrounding the site and a new light rail system currently under construction.
World Trade Center Association Timeline
- 1939: The World's Fair in Queens, NY, names its grounds "World Trade Center"
- 1961: The NY Port Authority approves the WTC project
- 1969: the non-profit, non-political organization is founded in New York
- 1970: The first 15 members meet in Tokyo
- 1973: The WTCA moves to the 77th floor of the WTC in New York
- 2015: the network reaches 323 members in 89 countries and connects 750,000 companies and entrepreneurs
For business tenants, though, the most important connections will be those with the global network of 750,000 entrepreneurs that make up the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA).
"One of the missions of WTC Abuja is to improve trade relations between Nigeria and the rest of the world," Vinay Mahtani, CEO of the site's developer, Lagos-based Churchgate Group, told CNN.
"For example, it will enable international businesses to make investments in our community. Ties will be forged between government agencies, non-governmental organizations and international corporations, and the additional business that is captured within the walls of the World Trade Center will provide tax revenues to government which can be used to improve the welfare of the people."
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