Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria and the most populous city in Sub-Saharan Africa is densely populated with limited infrastructure, residents are over-taxed yet businesses spend fortunes on utilities to top it off, flooding is guaranteed every rainy season while housing is expensive. Successive administrations have made efforts at changing the face of the city and state but it is clearly imploding as economic misfortunes of recent years have forced more people into the state to seek to earn a living. Life in the city is bittersweet, and residents daily seek a door out – to live and breathe.
Interestingly, further out of the city in a few kilometres, you see how this stressful life ends when companies and individuals seek to find their way out of the city and move to hinterland cities in states where production is still possible with good infrastructure while they can still maintain proximity with the Lagos market. There is this peace people find when they decide to live in New Makun City, Sagamu developed by OPIC while their factories are within a 10-minute drive by the Interchange. Or the ones who have homes in Ibadan and have developed their Warehouses and distribution centres along the new railway corridors. Predictable time in and out due to lighter traffic, more emotionally healthy staff, an environment that is more livable, and a life that is more fulfilling in the beautiful tropical cities and towns on the fringes of the bustling commercial city of Lagos!

The agenda I seek to promote here is simple, you have an economically viable corridor along the two critical communication routes, namely the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway which is 85% revived now, and the newly commissioned Lagos – Ibadan SG Railway lines. We have a total of 8 stations going through 12 LGAs while the Expressway passes through 9 LGAs with up to 10 new towns and cities plus massive urban sprawl in several locations with daily addition of new factories, Warehouses, Logistics, and Distribution Centres, and Residential Estates springing up. We have close to 2 million residents and up to 10 private and public universities in this zone. So we are looking at a vast area within Ogun and Oyo States that gives you multiple land-use opportunities with well over 100,000 Hectares currently available for Industrial and Commercial Developments within each state. But we will get to that in detail when you reach out to us via email at ta@spacecubeafrica.com or hello@spacecubeafrica.com & 09052266952.
Now we get to the specifics with the success stories that have come out of the corridors and those coming in, while I will offer you our template for potential investment in this commercial hub of Ogun and Oyo states.

The Expressway: If you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria, you must be used to the idea that the 127km long, Lagos Ibadan Expressway will always be in the news. We have had so much to hear about it from the removal of the toll gates decades ago, to the concession to Bi-Courtney with the attendant drama, till the eventual commencement of reconstruction work in 2013 by the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency which is now nearly 85% done and according to the contractors we should see commissioning in about 9-15 months. In the past we used to hear so many negatives about it such as the legendary monthly traffic gridlocks in the 2000s-2010s due to Church programmes, the Security issues on Long Bridge, the days of tankers parked on the road (still happening in Ogere), mishaps on the Otedola Bridge, you also know it is in the news for government propaganda and so forth.
If you have not been to Nigeria and on the road in the last 8-12 years please, close your eyes and picture a large garbage truck tipping all that I wrote in the previous paragraph down the dumpster. It is all in your past as the Lagos Ibadan Expressway narrative shall forthwith begin to be associated with more and more industrial complexes such as the Karameh Industrial City hosted by the Warewa community and developed by Mikano Group. You cannot deny the new factories belonging to PETROCAM Limited, The Corrugated Carton factory, the Distribution Centre developed by Eat’N’Go Ltd, or the Many factories at the Interchange and further in Ogere and Oluyole LGA in Oyo. We are looking at a fast-growing industrial channel that will ultimately birth that economic revival that Nigeria requires. A highway to economic prosperity is strictly monitored by the Urban and Physical Development Ministry of Ogun and Oyo state who we partner to ensure sustainable development of the zone.

The Railway Corridor: In June 2021 the President of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), commissioned the 157km Lagos Ibadan Railway line. This is a more recent project running double Standard Gauge lines from Lagos to Ibadan. The secondary aim is to link Apapa port with the Dry Port in Ibadan to help with Cargo movement. For us, we consider this axis will potentially earn those who take up real estate in the area up to $2Bn in property value and annual revenues up to NGN50 billion. This refers to earnings on construction, development, rental income, capital gains from asset sales as well as Government revenue. There is heavy potential for Agro-allied facilities to service the Agrarian communities from Ogun to Oyo, from Osun to Kwara, and further into the hinterland. There is an estimated 3million residents from Papalanto Station to Agege Station. Opportunities for large warehousing for products cleared out of the Ports exist. Also, companies and cooperative societies can set up Remote Resident projects (we can guide you into how that works) that will service Lagos and International markets for their unique business services. Between Kajola and Odeda we have over 50 agrarian communities in Ogun and Oyo including Ajebo, Kobape, Oba, Olodo, Orile Iligun, Aganringan, Bakatari, Itoko, Ologun Eru, and many other places where people can engage in ranching, feed production, fishing due to proximity to the dams in Abeokuta North LG and so forth. The bottom line is that opportunities abound and the specializations are vast with relevant Government linkages possible, we believe we can make this corridor a source of global products.

In Conclusion...
Lagos is costly, and the government is actively driving policy to keep out those who will not have the aggression to survive that jungle, for example, it is almost 3x the cost for permits in Lagos that you pay in Ogun and Oyo states for Commercial and industrial development. You are also not likely to want your staff living in heavily flooded places with high costs of living which eventually reduce their focus and efficiency. Lagos is a great place to do business and will continue to flourish for decades to come, however, you stand a great chance to growing a thriving business to serve this same West African Market from Ogun and Oyo states. I will probably continue this and share stories with you as more businesses open up in this axis but for now, I look forward to your emails or calls.