As Nigeria secured $747 million syndicated loan for Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, even the worst of the cynics know that the benefits of the road would not be limited to the grandeur of the iconic bridge but will extend to the economy, which are greater than the costs. The coastal road, which is about 700 kilometres long, will expose the full potentials of the real estate in that corridor. Real estate is landed property (land, buildings, air rights above the land and underground rights below the land) including the water bodies along the road and the investment associated with these real estate products. A stationary ship which is being used as a hotel is a piece of real estate. Water bodies like lagoons, marshy lands, swimming pools and bays that are part of residential or commercial areas are also real estate. The term real estate generally means physical properties made of any material that are used for human needs.
The real estate sector is the sector of the economy that caters for the physical infrastructure development and management, such as buildings, bridges, dams, roads, farms, railways, waste management, etcetera. These basic infrastructures, on which life depends, are strategic and critical for our existence as human beings. The real estate along the coastal road can be classified into three: urban, semi-urban and rural. It can also be categorised as traditional and non-traditional real estate. The coastal land that will be opened up can be used for residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural, office, transportation, recreation, tourism, educational, medical, hospitality, sports, etcetera. Coastal lands are generally fancied by luxury properties investors because of the numerous opportunities that they have. They can be built to have a yacht dock or basin or small ship marina. In recent times, water bodies that can be sand-filled into land are also real estate.
All the land adjoining the coastal road on the south and north are pieces of real estate. This huge wealth can still not be accessed except there is a road to open them up. The functions of the government include social, economic and environmental development of the people through efficient management of natural and man-made resources, and the provision of basic infrastructure for the people including security, food and shelter, giving hope to the downtrodden and providing succour to the vulnerable. These functions require huge investment. The opening up of the coastal road will generate countless jobs during construction and when completed. It will also metamorphose into arterial roads that will link many communities from it.
The Eko Hotel, Landmark Centre, Eko Atlantic City, Lakowe Golf Estate and other investments by the coast are possible because there are access roads to the Atlantic Ocean coast. The Atlantic Ocean surge that threatened to eat the whole of Ahmadu Bello Way and the houses adjoining the road was the reason for sand-filling the bar beach into a city. The sand-filled area now has multiple benefits of stopping the surge, creating a residential and commercial city whose value is one of the highest in Africa and eradicating the miscreants and social-misfits who loitered around the beach in the past. The dead capital along the coastal land that will be exposed by the coastal road construction is in the region of $700 trillion. Sherrie Toth in, “Are Waterfront Property More Valuable?”,Sunday, August 27, 2023, stated that waterfront properties are highly sought after. These properties have a unique appeal that goes beyond mere aesthetics. They offer an exclusive living experience that is hard to find elsewhere.
A study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that waterfront homes in the United States can be worth up to 36 percent more than homes located inland. The means of generating income from the real estate sector are: transactional means, income generation means, employment generation means and others. Under transactional means, governments can sell off or lease some of the landed properties which will lie fallow if not sold or leased to generate income since real estate is a basic need of man. The federal government can sell off or lease for income the partitioned lands along the coastal road. On direct income generation, tolling the road will generate enormous amounts daily and provide jobs for the toll operators. The government can generate income from the coastal land by imposing land-based taxes, charges, levies and fees on the occupiers of the coastal land due to the investment committed on the road. This is based on “Corner-lot Valuation Theory”.
Agriculture is one of the two biggest sectors in developing nations. Is it not absurd that agricultural land is not effectively used in Nigeria? Fishing, if well developed through the development of the road, can save Nigeria a lot of money. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria’s fish import (Mackerel and other fishes) in the third quarter of 2023 was valued at N50.78 billion, accounting for 0.6 percent of total imports. The United Nations estimates that Nigeria’s population is set to double by 2050 to around 400 million people, which would make it the third largest nation, behind India and China. Despite this threatening projection, there is a lack of adequate housing in a country where most inhabitants live on less than $2.00 a day despite the nation having one of Africa’s largest economies. Space creation is a way of reducing poverty in any nation.
Under other potentials, the coastal land can be used as collateral security for loans by the government. Foreign investors who are into shipbuilding, cargo handling, waterway transportation and fishing have begun to make enquiries about the possibility of establishing their presence along the road. The government can create wealth by acquiring land from communities and developing them into industrial, residential and commercial estates etc for sale to potential users. The government can also make laws that will ensure economic, effective and efficient investment in building construction. For example, all companies with more than 50 workers can be legislated to move to the industrial estate to be created along the corridor.
The development partner of the Calabar-Lagos coastal road knows the great potential in the project and that is why they are committing their funds on it. The coastal road will be the new gateway to the east from Lagos and can be used as ship harbour, recreation, resorts and waterfront housing estates. The benefits are limitless!
Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, MPhil. in Construction Management, managing director/CEO, Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, is an expert in real estate investment, a registered estate surveyor and valuer, and an experienced construction project manager. He can be reached on +2348137564200 (text only) or femoyede@gmail.com
