Ikeja City Mall Opens

Over a thousand people witnessed the grand opening of the $100 million Ikeja City Mall today, one of the biggest malls in the West African sub-region.

The mall, located in Alausa, Lagos, southwest Nigeria is built by Actis, a leading private equity investor alongside its project partners, Paragon Holdings and RMB Investment and Advisory.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State declared the Mall opened.

The mall is a world class retail and leisure development initiated by Actis three years ago, comprising 27,000 square metres of gross built area and 23,000 square metres of lettable area.

The space accommodates nearly 100 shops, including Shoprite’s latest generation store of over 4,400 square metres, KFC, Mr. Price, Twice as Nice and Aldo. The design of the mall incorporates informal meeting places, a food hall and five screen Silverbird Cinema. Bounded by access roads on three sides, the five-hectare site is ideally positioned for convenient parking and shopping.

Declaring the mall open, Fashola said the building of the mall in Ikeja represented a milestone and restored Ikeja to its rightful place as the retail hub of Lagos.

“Actis has shown tremendous leadership and delivered this mall on plan, on time and on budget; following the footsteps of their other successful real estate projects in West Africa.

“This development provides an inspiring vision of what can be achieved through collaboration between the development partners, regulators, government officials and tenants.

“Ikeja City Mall brings world class retail and leisure facilities to Lagos. I am excited to see my fellow citizens in the mall today, relaxing and having fun,” Fashola stated.

Actis Real Estate Director, Michael Ejekam said, “Actis is proud to unveil Ikeja City Mall. This is a project that demonstrates Actis’ proven track record of delivering equity real estate for Nigeria.

“We believe that Actis’s real estate developments can have a profoundly positive impact in sub-Saharan Africa. Ikeja City Mall opens up space for Nigerians to work and relax and follows in the footsteps of Actis’ successful development of the Palms. We believe that Nigeria and Ghana alone have the potential for at least 20 more similar scale malls.”

Head of West Africa, Actis, Ngozi Edozien said, “Ikeja City Mall seals Actis’ reputation as the West African investor of choice. Our local team in Lagos has unrivalled access to investment opportunities in real estate, financial services, industrials and consumer businesses and a network that reaches across the region.”

Front view

Executive Director, Paragon Holdings, Afolabi Toyo stated that, “Ikeja City Mall represents the successful cooperation of a local land owner, such as Paragon, with deep understanding of the local market place with international firm investor, such as Actis, with its track record and financial capability.”

Actis’ real estate team in Africa combine private equity real estate, development and financial experience with a strong network and relationships with leading industry professionals, third party developers and lenders.

Actis leads development primarily in A-grade retail and office, focusing on high standards of design, efficiency and green building practices. The team’s current portfolio includes investment in Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius and Zambia.