Nigeria: Eko Atlantic and the new planned cities under development in Ghana, Angola, Kenya and Republic of Congo
Eko Atlantic leads emerging African cities promising homes for over 800,000 residents
June 12, 2013
By Chuka Uroko
Business Day Newspaper
Eko Atlantic City, variously described as Africa’s Dubai, tomorrow’s Lagos and Lagos of the 21st century, is leading the pack of seven new cities under construction across Africa which altogether promise homes for over 800,000 residents.
These cities include Kiamba in Angola Konzo Techno City in Kenya, Apolonia and King City in Greater Accra and Western Ghana; Tatu City in Nairobi, capital of Nairobi, La Cite du Fleuve in Kinshasa, the capital of the Republic of Congo, and Hope City also in Accra, Ghana.
Eko Atlantic, a joint venture between South Energyx Nigeria Limited and Lagos State Government, is a multibillion dollar residential and business development that will be located on Victoria Island, in Lagos, along its up market Bar Beach coastline.
The ambitious project is being built on 10 square kilometers (3.86 square miles) of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to provide upscale accommodation for 250,000 people and employment opportunities for a further 150,000 who will commute to and fro the city on daily basis.
Kilamba, a ghost town in Angola, is a grandiose project which analysts often label as a white elephant. Built afresh, outside the capital Luanda, Kilamba was designed to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people but remains largely empty due to its expensive housing and unfavorable location.
According to the developers, Rendeavour, the objective of the project is to provide the basic infrastructure, planning and necessary management framework in creating satellite cities that reverses the current trend of unplanned development and urban congestion in most of Africa’s growing cities.
Konza Techno City is the Kenyan government’s flagship mega project designed to foster the growth of the country’s technology industry. The multi-billion dollar city, located on a 5,000-acre plot of land, some 60 kilometers southeast of the capital Nairobi, aims to create nearly 100,000 jobs by 2030. It will feature a central business district, a university campus, urban parks and housing to accommodate some 185,000 people.
Designed by Rendeavour, the urban development branch of Moscow-based Renaissance Group, Appolonia and King City will be located in Greater Accra and Western Ghana, respectively. The mixed-use satellite cities are expected to accommodate more than 160,000 residents on land developed for housing properties, retail and commercial centers, as well as schools, healthcare and other social amenities.
The developer reveals that all baseline studies, master plans and detailed designs have been completed and approved, while basic infrastructure work in Appolonia is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2013.
Tatu City is also being developed by Rendeavour and will span 1,035 hectares of land, some 15 kilometers from Nairobi. It is designed to create a new decentalised urban center to the north of the bustling Kenyan capital. Construction work began last May and the whole project is projected to be completed in 10 phases by 2022. When the project is finalized, the city is expected to be home to 77,000 residents.
La Cite du Fleuve is a luxurious housing project planned for two islands on the Congo and one of Africa’s fastest growing cities.
Eko Atlantic as seen from space
Development of infrastructure
April 2013 Main storm water drainage pipes laid for Eko Boulevard, Avenue 1, and adjacent roads
Eko Boulevard takes shape
The 8-lane highway is the spine of the Business District
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Video: Eko Atlantic dedication ceremony
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton attends
February 2013
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Video: Journey of Eko Atlantic
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Video: Eko Atlantic Overview
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Video: Eko Atlantic
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Video: Building The Great Wall of Lagos
This episode of Earthfile focuses on the environmental consequences of the construction and land reclamation of the planned financial hub, Eko Atlantic City in the Atlantic coast of Lagos state. The coastal city which will be resident for over 100,000 to date has 3million cubic meters of the land that has been sand filled in the reclamation with about 35,ooo tonnes of rock delivered to the site. The state government has built what is called ‘The Great Wall of Lagos’; the sea defence system to prevent rising ocean surge on the proposed Atlantic city.
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Video: A Lagos, un gigantesque quartier luxueux en construction
A huge luxurious neighborhood under construction
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Click image below to enlarge. Click your back arrow to return to Dilemma X.
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2013 Dedication ceremony
5,000,000 square metres dedication ceremony led by His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and former U.S. President Bill Clinton
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June 24, 2013
‘Eko Atlantic City can’t withstand storm surge’
by Eniola Akinkuotu
PUNCH (Lagos)
LAGOS- An expert in Environmental and Flood Modelling, Dr. Dupe Olayinka, has said the Eko Atlantic City, Lagos, may not be able to withstand storm surge.
Olayinka, who was a guest lecturer at the 2013 World Hydrography Day, organized by the Nigerian Navy on Friday, said unless proper monitoring was put in place, the city would not be safe for habitation.
She noted that the five Cowries Creek through which water flows out of the commodore channel, had been blocked
“Unless there is proper monitoring, I do not think we have a safe environment there. We can see what happened in New York City through Hurricane Sandy. When we have large storm surges, I am not sure what we have can withstand it.”
Olayinka said local surveyors and hydrographers were not contacted before the commencement of the project.
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, said the slow pace in the development of hydrography in Nigeria was largely attributed to the government’s will and poor funding.
He said over the years, the activities of the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office had been solely funded by the Navy.
He urged government to upgrade the Hydrography Department of the NN and fund it directly rather than through the agency’s yearly budgetary allocation.
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Lagos, Nigeria
Video: LAGOS- AFRICA’S OWN BIG APPLE
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New rapid rail public transit system under construction in Lagos
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Video: Appolonia -City of Light (a new planned city in Ghana)
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Video: King City – (a new planned city in Ghana)
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Africa’s 2 new technology cities: Ghana’s Hope City and Kenya’s Konza Technology City
See Link
Nigeria: River State’s new city called Greater Port Harcourt City
See Link
How Africa’s New Urban Centers Are Shifting Its Old Colonial Boundaries
The continent’s booming new economic zones are outstripping the ability of weak central governments to retain their hold on them.
Howard W. French
The Atlantic
Twice as populous today as the next biggest African country, Nigeria, which was cobbled together as a colony 100 years ago, has always stood out on its continent as the most ambitious and in many ways fanciful creation of British imperialism.
First, it was given its name in 1897 by Flora Shaw, a journalist for the London Times, and then run by her eventual husband, Lord Lugard, a former army officer and civil servant who recognized from the outset, even as he unified what had been a hodgepodge collection of protectorates, that its disparate regions had almost nothing common.
See entire article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/07/how-africas-new-urban-centers-are-shifting-its-old-colonial-boundaries/277425/?single_page=true
