The World Edition - Eko Atlantic City - Lagos July 14, 2009

Located along the Atlantic coast of Lagos, Nigeria, is a dynamic new city currently under construction. Adjacent to Victoria Island in West Africa's fastest growing region is Eko Atlantic. This project will transform 9 square kilometres of eroding coastal land into a thriving twenty-first century city.

Eko Atlantic combines an impressive blend of aesthetic beauty and seamless practicality. The city will be spread across seven districts, combining residential, commercial, financial and tourist development. They will all share the same high standards of urban planning, infrastructure and architectural excellence. The new city will feature tree-lined boulevards, waterways, manicured gardens, elegant plazas, three marinas and a stunning ocean front promenade. Eko Atlantic will be a city in which to live, work and play.

The Financial District, with towering skyscrapers, will attract multinational companies, especially in the oil and gas industries. It will become home to many of Africa's banks, financial institutions and business leaders and will help to establish Lagos as the financial capital of Africa.

Eko Atlantic will raise the standards of infrastructure in Lagos to sophisticated levels through a finely-structured urban plan that creates a balanced, environmentally friendly and efficient blueprint for a comfortable, healthy, safe and efficient style of life. Each of the seven districts of Eko Atlantic will display their own unique characteristics, but the infrastructural design will be standard throughout the city.

The city will have its own independent service island with an electricity generating plant and water management for drinking and irrigation, as well as sewage control. Eko Atlantic will be self-sufficient in power and vital telecommunications.

Transportation includes an eight-lane coastal highway, a tramway system, a ferry system, 20km of internal waterway, and a 100km internal network of roads connecting all districts. Eko Atlantic also includes a pedestrian and transport strategy that is designed to reduce road use, minimise traffic congestion and create off-street parking for all vehicles.

In essence, Eko Atlantic is a huge reclamation project, replacing land that was lost during a hundred years of severe coastal erosion. Consultants and contractors from all over the world are working together in an attempt to roll back surging waves from the Atlantic Ocean. Valuable land that was lost to generations of Nigerians has already begun to reappear and is expanding every day. A 7km-long sea wall will be constructed to protect the city from damaging storms. Eko Atlantic is turning a liability of coastal erosion into a national asset.

Eko Atlantic will become home to at least 400,000 residents, with commuter volume expected to exceed 250,000 people daily. Eko Atlantic will help Lagos transform itself into a successful mega-city state of 25 million people by the year 2015.

The project is being developed by South Energyx Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group.