Another retailing shop, Asaba Mall recently commissioned by the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyin Okowa, is set to change the face of organised retail shopping in Delta State, thereby opening up the quiet city to join the league of towns with modern and convenient retail trade.
The mall, sited on an expansive land area of 8,500 square metre, is provided with modern amenities and conveniences.
Speaking on the project, the Chief Executive Officer, Resilient Africa Group, a South African company that built the mall, Mr Eddie McDonald, put the cost of the project at “over $45 million,” adding that the facility would be expanded in the future.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that many residents of Asaba daily visited the mall, either to do shopping, or to savour the cossy interior of the edifice.
Features of the mall include a central cooling system and a number of fast food eateries and other entertainment outfits which provide attractions to the numerous shoppers.
The Asaba Mall is the second of such multi-million-dollar foreign direct investment (FDI) coming to oil-rich Delta State, after a similar one, the Delta Mall, was opened in Warri city, two years ago.
McDonald said that the REI group have invested about $100 million in Delta State, adding that the firm would expand the investment in the near future, but that would be tied to performance of the Nigerian economy.
“Asaba Mall was constructed at great financial pain due to the current economic recession in Nigeria, which had greatly affected sourcing for foreign exchange,” he revealed, adding that most companies stay for several weeks searching for an elusive foreign exchange to procure raw materials and production machines, but that REI Group was able to weather the storm.
Meanwhile, Governor Okowa, at the commissioning announced that government was ceding 20 per cent of the government’s equity holding in the Mall to the Asaba host community where the investment is located.
“Government was ceding the 20 per cent of its shares to the Asaba community as an encouragement for promoting peace by allowing the building of the Mall without encumbrances, since it would attract more developmental projects to their area.
“Delta State is a good place to invest as the peaceful environment is here. Sixteen months after I laid the foundation stone of this place, the place has been transformed.
“Deltans are very excited by what they see us doing and we must continue to provide the enabling environment for investments to thrive so as to ensure creation of jobs for the youths and improve revenue generation,” the governor said.
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