$100m Asaba Mall, with Shoprite opens amid pomp

 Delta should be every investor’s destination, says project facilitator

Asaba  Mall, sitting on an 8,000 square metre expanse of land opened on Tuesday, 29/11/2016 amid flourish. Built within a record 16 months, it is the third Mall owned by Resilient Africa, a company described by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eddie Macdonalds as “a company of few words”. There are plans to expand the facility, and the idea is to engage more indigenes as a means of creating jobs for the youths,” he pointed out.

Governor Okowa being conducted round departments in the
Shoprite at the Asaba Mall.

A record crowd of excited on-lookers in Asaba metropolis and environs were on hand to witness the opening that was done by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, with top government functionaries and traditional rulers in attendance.

For Okowa, the speedy completion of the Asaba City Mall is clear signal that the state was investor-friendly.

He disclosed that he laid the foundation stone of the multi-billion naira imposing structure in July, 2015, expressing joy that Deltans have embraced the culture of encouraging investors.

He said investors from South Africa, Israel, China and other parts of the world have signed memoranda of understanding with government in areas of interest ranging from agriculture, housing, and industrial parks, among others.

Shoprite at the Asaba Mall

“Delta State is a good place to invest as the peaceful environment is here; 16 months after I came to lay the foundation stone of this place, the place has been transformed; Deltans are very excited by what they see here today,” the Governor said, stating, “we must continue to provide the enabling environment in this state for investments to thrive for the creation of jobs for the youths, communities and generation of revenue for the state.”

He continued: “Like I promised at the foundation stone laying ceremony, 20 per cent of the state share of this project will be ceded to the community, I am pleased to note that Asaba as host community encouraged the execution of the project without any sign of disruption".

Asaba Mall.

He noted that with the speed with which the project was completed, more of such projects could be sited in other high population density towns of the state like Sapele, Agbor, and Ughelli.

He said: “I want to congratulate the investors for the completion of this mall in Asaba, I believe that in another two years, more of this malls will be completed in the state; I call on the company to ensure local content in its employment, supply of goods and services and ensure that it executes its corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is vital for the growth of the company, the community and the state.”

The governor used the occasion to thank communities that provided land for investors, disclosing that one of the largest cassava processing companies would commence operation in the state in the nearest future and called for patience among Deltans to enable them benefit from the huge commercial activities that will take place in the state in the year 2017.

While Mr. Macdonald commended Governor Okowa’s administration for creating the enabling environment for investments to thrive, the facilitator of the project, Mr. Olumide Akintanya in a chat, described Delta as a peculiar state for investment to thrive.

“Delta should be every investor’s destination because, the ease of doing business here can be described as 95 per cent and the people are very business-like,” he said.

Almost immediately after the commissioning, the mall recorded great influx of multitudes from the city and environs that trooped in to see what was going on and to buy.

Expectedly, Shoprite had the heaviest traffic of visitors to its officials had tough time controlling human traffic of buyers.