African warehouse developer, Agility Logistics Parks (ALP), has unveiled its plans for Nigeria, adding to the existing facilities it has already included in its portfolio for the continent. With an initial 50 000 sqm warehouse in Accra, another set to open in Maputo this December and yet another soon to open in Abidjan in the first quarter of 2020, Agility will have “more than 100 000 sqm with a full developed capacity of more than 500 000 sqm”, says company executive Timi Adesanya. The commercial manager for ALP Nigeria said the new facility would be located on the LagosIbadan Expressway, connecting Nigeria’s most populous city with markets out east, north and west. “Agility has already acquired, zoned and obtained the title deed to a 50-hectare site with direct access to the highway – and the first phase of 50 000 sqm is commencing construction,” Adesanya adds. Set to open early 2021, the Lagos Agility Warehouse Park will provide services in support of e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, storage, distribution, oil, gas, packaging and light industrial goods. According to Adesanya, it will also aim to provide uninterrupted power supply, 24/7 security, internet connectivity, management services and will include green areas in keeping with modern light industrial warehouse trends. “The target for Nigeria is to open a network of further warehouse parks across the country in the coming years.” Further afield, Agility’s greater growth strategy includes the development of similar, standardised facilities in Kenya, Uganda, Togo, DRC and Ethiopia. Says Adesanya: “The goal is to have a Pan-African network of world-class warehouse parks which will promote trade and prosperity across the region.” E-commerce and manufacturing progress, he adds, are primary drivers to “provide a key component of the essential infrastructure necessary to support the African Continental Free Trade Area as it develops”.
INSERT: The target for Nigeria is to open a network of further warehouse parks across the country in the coming years. – Timi Adesanya