Ibeju Lekki’s Real Estate Boom

The rapid expansion of Lagos’s urban space has led to the swallowing up of previously rural and largely vegetated landscape. In places where trees stood tall and thickly populated the land, shiny concrete and glass structures now rest, rising to dominate the horizons with an intimidating, yet unnatural beauty. The roads crisscross these zones where swamps once swayed slowly under the pressure of cool coastal winds. Now, the atmosphere is filled with the noise of hustle and bustle, and the plumes of industry.

Ibeju Lekki fits this description quite well. Only a few decades ago, this South Eastern corner of Lagos was occupied by villages and small towns, fairly detached from the attractive city centre- hardly the kind of area that would make for prime real estate. However, the demand for living and working space in the affluent estates and business district on the Western fringes of the Island has driven costs there to heights considered forbidding by many. Attention has gradually shifted to the nearby territory. Ibeju Lekki has benefitted from this redirected interest, as real estate companies have scrambled for precious land in the area, upon which they have established numerous estates and built fabulous structures.

These days, Ibeju-Lekki steals the headlines on a regular basis with grand plans to construct even more impressive edifices and create commercial focal points within its boundaries. A deep sea port, a free trade zone, an international golf course, a cargo airport, and a university will be some of Ibeju Lekki’s leading attractions in the near future. There is another reason for the rush to build in the area- it seems to be attracting a large number of Lagos’s middle and upper-class families. Businesses find that their higher purchasing power could bode well for them, so they are quite keen to set up shop there.

Fears have been expressed, if only muttered under the breath, about a real estate bubble building up in Nigeria’s big cities, which could burst very soon. However, the location of Ibeju Lekki could mean that it will most likely remain a favourite real estate hotspot for the foreseeable future, past the current slowdown in Nigeria’s economy which has also had an impact on the real estate sector.

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ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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