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Nigeria’s Edo State has signed a memorandum of understanding with Persianas Property Limited to develop a modern Shoprite-anchored mall in Benin City.
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki said the project to construct the mall in the state capital comes after 12 years of failed attempts, Nigerian Observer News reported.
“There have been several attempts and one of the promises I made during my electioneering was that before leaving office, I was going to make Edo like modern cities in the world, making Edo people experience a retail shopping mall in the state,” Obaseki said.
Once the mall is completed, the government intends to sell its interest in the project to Edo residents who would like to become part-owners in the public-private partnership.
One of the goals of the Obaseki administration is to urbanize Benin City, introducing features of a modern smart city while stimulating the economy in the state, which is said to be one of the less industrialized states in Nigeria.
“We are bringing back industries and transactions of this nature to the state. We are stimulating investment into the state and when the businesses are set up, the government will withdraw because it has no business in running businesses,” he said.
Persianas Property Limited
Persianas Property is a Nigeria-based luxury property development firm and a subsidiary of the larger Persianas Group. It was founded in 1990 by Nigerian businessman Tayo Amusan, who serves as its chairman.
In June, Amusan, through Ketron Investment Limited, a wholly-owned group subsidiary, announced the buyout of Shoprite’s operations in Nigeria after receiving the green light from Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
The South African retailer had earlier announced plans to sell off its assets in other regional markets to focus on South Africa, its primary market, following significant losses triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
