Mace Group's International Development Unit (IDU) team has been appointed by the Nigerian Ministry of Commerce and Industry as project manager for the preparation of a masterplan for a new $600m international airport in Lagos.

If the roads are good, and every other infrastructure is in place, we might say this man is bereft of ideas, so lets allow him, but Lagos is still far off expectation, so why another airport? Besides, how many people can afford air transportation in Lagos? All these talks about Lagos being 15million plus, does not hold water, as a very minute population can afford air transportation. If he is short of ideas, he should watch the BBC documentary about Lagos again. He will definitely know what to do. The fact that, it is PPP does not mean anything. PPP can provide houses. PPP can provide electricity. PPP can make the rail come back to live etc.

4 Play:

Nice little copy and paste by Sky Blue. I thought you are arguing that this could be entirely financed by the private sector, even though you seem to be unable to provide evidence of who these private sector investors are and how much they are willing to bring to the table. This project was mooted by the Govt since at least 2008, we are currently in 2010 and no evidence of private sector funding yet.

If there are willing investors who are prepared to finance an airport, it's not the Govt who should be suggesting how much the airport will cost or paying Mace Group to prepare a masterplan( since Mace Group are not working for free, so much for no Govt funding). If the private sector is going to fund it, they will determine the size of the project and how much it will cost , not Govt mandarins.

AkoEja:

When you build an airport, its not just for people flying. Its for everyone. If you can't fly, those who fly bring business to the area. Building an airport is not an elitist project, its all part of development. A lot of people in Nairaland talk out of their backside!

jokingmary:

I commend him but on second thoughts beggers littered on the streets of lagos and refuges decorating every where etc, I think he should solve these problems before building a second airport

Sky Blue:

Here is the thing that is a tad annoying though, you came on the thread and said that PPP by definition means public money is also spent and therefroe Lagos government would foot a part of the bill. I told you that was not the case, there are different types of PPP and that neither you nor I had seen the contract, I even gave examples of PPP projects in Nigeria which have been funded by the private sector, so what is all this really about? You keep saying I should provide evidence of the private sector investors when I have just told you its about neither of us knowing and you jumping to conclusions as if you have been given exclusive acess to some high profile documents.

The Lekki Free Trade zone actually surfaced before 2008 since I was aware of it in 2007 and work is actually being done on it right now; I became aware of the airport proposal in 2008. Mentioning that the proposal has been on the table since seems a tad petty considering the state government was also looking for investors and trying to convince them to invest in the rail project for quite a while and guess what? Investors were finally found and work is ongoing on the project as we speak. The proposal for the rail project was already there before investors from the private sector signed unto the project meaning the scale or design was not necessarily dictated by them. Getting the private sector involved does not mean they have to dictate the scale of the project, getting investors a lot of the time is also about being able to sell them an economic and profitable opportunity which can range from vague ideas to full out concrete plans and proposals.

I seem to be the one doing the "copy and paste" which is beginning to make this exchange look like petty point scoring, so genuinely no offence if I don't oblige anymore and just ignore your future posts if I would have to be the one obtaining info we can all obtain.

Exerpt from an article to consider with regards to the private sector funding of the Lekki Free Trade Zone, so stop making it sound like private sector funding in a PPP is a new and alien concept.

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35 foreign and local firms commit to Lekki FTZ - http://allafrica.com/stories/200910130117.html

Thirty five foreign and local investors have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with Lagos State Government to invest $1.496 billion in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, according to a recent Growth and Employment Report (GER) on Nigeria by World Bank Country Office, Abuja.

Five companies account for 64 percent or $955 million of the planned investment. These are Telsy Energy Consulting & Investment Limited that plan to build a power generating plant on a 20-hectare piece of land at a cost of $480 million and Giorgio Dredging Limited which is to build a petroleum products storage facility at a cost of $200 million on a 10-hectare expanse of land.

In line with efforts to attract foreign investment into Lagos State, the government has allocated N40.5 billion for the development of the Lekki Free Trade Zone into a world-class trade centre.

To that effect, a land use and infrastructure master plan for the 16,500 hectares has been approved by the government, which is expected to be equipped with modern facilities, including seaport, light rail, goad road network and telecommunications.

Kobojunkie:


Are you certain of that? There are so many Airports, even across america today that barely get up to 1000 passengers or cargo transport a month. These projects cost millions., and still do but because the government's in the areas are unwilling to swallow their pride, they continue to WASTE taxpayer money on these projects and airports.

Sure, airports are there to transport cargo and people, but it makes absolute sense for people to plan carefully and ensure they are not constructing another monument to waste. From the much, and there is not really much more than the usual feel good rattle on why an airport is needed, I have read on the Lekki plan for an airport, it sounds like the airport will be used more for transporting goods, rather than people. Reminded me a lot of the  "If you build it, they will come" approach to projects development, which I hope works out.

netotse:

i could kiss you for that(nahhhh, u'll have to work harder i dont come cheap!). . .that's what i've been trying to say all along. . .the LFTZ will generate traffic, that's one of the reasons it stands a far better chance than tinapa. . .accessibility!

netotse:

@kobojunkie
but is/was it as thoroughly thought out as LFTZ seems to be?

netotse:
this is a little something i got from wikipedia

A free trade zone(FTZ) or export processing zone (EPZ) is an are of a country where some trade barriers such as tarrits and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratice requirements are relaxed in the hopes of attracting new business and foreign investments. It is a region where a group of countries have agreed to reduce or eliminate trade barriers. Free trade zones can be described as labour intensive manufacturing centres that involve the importing of raw materials or components and the exporting of factory products.

now someone tell me how something like this^^ wont benefit from having an airport next door?(or you think they'll still want to be using the national relic we refer to as MMA?)

4 Play:

SkyBlue, in all your blithering drivel and copy and paste, there is still no evidence of the private sector prepared to fund a new major airport in Lekki. Not one iota of evidence.

As for there being examples of PPPs not having public financing, Lekki is surely not one of them: http://allafrica.com/stories/200904061035.html

If the private sector is to fund an airport, the private sector alone will determine the size of the airport taking into consideration its commercial viability if they are supposed to bear the financial risk alone. Not yet seen any of these private investors, have you seen them?

netotse:

Has the light rail been constructed? At least they have started work on the railway in lagos, and also lagos is where the action is, it's unfair to compare the two cities

Kobojunkie:

I don't think even you would approve that Tinapa commence a rail project with the current problems it has to deal with at this time.   Is the Lagos railway now connected to the Lekki FTZ project?

netotse:

even me? I'll choose to see that as a complement, sey they are being run concurrently(the railway and LFTZ projects), someone pasted in his reply that on the railway there'll be a line that goes straight to the LFTZ, could it be you haven't been reading the replies?

Kobojunkie:

The governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, is considered by most Lagosians to be an honest striver who aims to improve the city. (The city and the state of Lagos are basically one and the same, such is the expansiveness of the urban sprawl.) I have heard Fashola speak on several occasions; each time, I came away impressed but just as convinced that his lofty and admirable goals would not succeed.

“Most places do planning before development,” said Moses Ogun of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. “Here they do development and building before they’ve done the planning. I call it disjointed incrementalism.”

The architects of the 1998 city master plan promised to develop 28 new districts in Lagos and ease congestion, but they didn’t follow through, according to Ogun. Only 15 percent of the 1985 master plan was implemented.

“There is no one guiding the growth,” Ogun said. “The governor needs to wake up.”

I don’t think wakefulness is the governor’s problem. Disentangling himself from rich patrons and the corruption long endemic to Nigeria may be.

There are huge amounts of money to be made in Lagos, particularly in the housing industry. Demand is high, and so are rents. A two-bedroom apartment in Ikoyi, Lekki, or Victoria Island (where Eko Atlantic City will be constructed), the wealthier areas of Lagos, can cost $6,000 a month.

Developers have been quick to pounce on this housing bubble, and they are very keen to build additional properties on the islands. The city’s plan to reclaim land from the ocean is music to their ears.

The poorer neighborhoods of Lagos invariably get neglected.

Mabel Samuel lives in a shanty village enclosed on all sides by multistory homes and businesses catering to wealthy Lagos residents. The people here work as servants, cleaners, and drivers for the more affluent folks who surround them. They pack themselves and their entire families into tiny rented rooms because they cannot afford the cost of commuting daily from other, more affordable neighborhoods. Mabel, her husband, and their three children live in a room that is about 6 feet by 8 feet.


http://www.blackpower.com/business/lagos-africas-mega-city/

Hardtalk:


That is sure the problem of Fashola. He is not spreading this development, lessen congestion.

Kobojunkie:

The governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, is considered by most Lagosians to be an honest striver who aims to improve the city. (The city and the state of Lagos are basically one and the same, such is the expansiveness of the urban sprawl.) I have heard Fashola speak on several occasions; each time, I came away impressed but just as convinced that his lofty and admirable goals would not succeed.

“Most places do planning before development,” said Moses Ogun of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. “Here they do development and building before they’ve done the planning. I call it disjointed incrementalism.”

The architects of the 1998 city master plan promised to develop 28 new districts in Lagos and ease congestion, but they didn’t follow through, according to Ogun. Only 15 percent of the 1985 master plan was implemented.

Are u serious?$6,000 a month for a 2 bedroom flat, It's so cheap.and what did he crawl out from, A Vodka?

“There is no one guiding the growth,” Ogun said. “The governor needs to wake up.”

I don’t think wakefulness is the governor’s problem. Disentangling himself from rich patrons and the corruption long endemic to Nigeria may be.

There are huge amounts of money to be made in Lagos, particularly in the housing industry. Demand is high, and so are rents. A two-bedroom apartment in Ikoyi, Lekki, or Victoria Island (where Eko Atlantic City will be constructed), the wealthier areas of Lagos, can cost $6,000 a month.

Developers have been quick to pounce on this housing bubble, and they are very keen to build additional properties on the islands. The city’s plan to reclaim land from the ocean is music to their ears.

The poorer neighborhoods of Lagos invariably get neglected.

Mabel Samuel lives in a shanty village enclosed on all sides by multistory homes and businesses catering to wealthy Lagos residents. The people here work as servants, cleaners, and drivers for the more affluent folks who surround them. They pack themselves and their entire families into tiny rented rooms because they cannot afford the cost of commuting daily from other, more affordable neighborhoods. Mabel, her husband, and their three children live in a room that is about 6 feet by 8 feet.


http://www.blackpower.com/business/lagos-africas-mega-city/

Kobojunkie:

The governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, is considered by most Lagosians to be an honest striver who aims to improve the city.


_ _ _

http://www.blackpower.com/business/lagos-africas-mega-city/