Nigeria's World Trade Center Opens Next Year In Abuja

  

Nigeria's capital city of Abuja is about to get a new heart: a brand new World Trade Center complex.

The development is expected to open to the public early next year after the completion of the first phase of construction. It will join a network of 323 locations in 89 countries, started in 1970 with the inauguration of the first World Trade Center in New York City.

Funded by local and foreign financial institutions, as well as private investors, to the tune of 200 billion Nigerian Naira, or just over $1 billion, the WTC Abuja will be the largest mixed-use development in West Africa.

WTC Abuja has been under development since 2010, on a lot spanning over six million square feet in the Central Business Area of the capital.

The location offers easy access to the city center and the airport, with a dual-carriage highway surrounding the site and a new light rail system currently under construction.

Construction is now nearing the end of the first phase, which comprises the residential and commercial towers. The former will offer luxury apartments with modern amenities, while the latter will accommodate businesses of various sizes, with offices ranging from 100 to 1,440 square meters.

The buildings, at 24-storeys each, are set to define the capital's skyline: the Commercial Tower is the tallest office building in Abuja, while the Residential Tower is the tallest residential building in Nigeria.

Future phases include the construction of a shopping mall and a 37-storey hotel, which will be among the tallest skyscrapers in the continent.

                        

CNN STYLE