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Paul Onwuanibe, CEO of Landmark Africa Group, has outlined an ambitious plan to establish a network of leisure lifestyle destinations across West Africa.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, he asserted that the initiative will focus on locations along the West African coastline, will be driven by a combination of historical, cultural, and tourism potential.
“We’ve picked places based on the number of things the environment of the government surrounding and the will and the desire of that city to create a tourist attraction,” he said.
Onwuanibe emphasised that Enugu, a city with historical significance, is among the first locations selected for development. “The numbers, the people and cities that have historic significance and learn themselves to create a leisure lifestyle environment, Enugu falls into that plot.”
In a personal reflection, Onwuanibe noted his connection to the area, recalling the opening of Nike Lake Resort in the 1980s, which he described as one of the premier tourist destinations in Nigeria and West Africa at the time. “It’s a small emotional reason, I went to university in Nigeria ,in the new campus and this resort was opened as I was leaving in the 80’s and I would arguable say that it was probably the best tourism or tourist resort in Nigeria, West Africa at that time.”
Describing the specific development planned for the investment, he said, “It’s a 200-room hotel and it has a number of villas and big nice lake around it and a lot of land with some sporting and leisure facilities.”
Onwuanibe emphasised that they would need to upgrade some of the existing facilities and the first phase would involve the master planning and the upgrading of some of these facilities. The next phase, he said was the most important phase, is the creation of some of the experiences and adventures that the company intended to give to the region, and the third phase was to make it part of a network.
He stressed that his company’s goal is to attract as many visitors as possible, to “give them amazing experiences and enough things to do, to make sure they have such a great time and go back and tell other people.”
He added that by bringing 2 million people, “they would provide experiences, adventure, things for them to do and provide big attractions and its bits by bits.
In Lagos when we started it was sort of 200,000-300,000 people by the end of 2023 we were inviting and servicing 4 and a half million people so we like to believe Enugu has almost a million people in population the stage itself 5 million people, the region had 50 million people and we create a resort with such a vibe people would come from all over the country and all over the region and we would connect all our region by air, sea and by land.”
He added that in Central Enugu and Nsukka, Nike is literally on the way, and the whole reprogram has literally started the duo carriage way is just literally few kilometres from the gate of Nike lake resort at the moment.
Onwuanibe also said that the project will also provide substantial employment opportunities, noting that in Lagos, Landmark Africa’s previous resort efforts created 4,500 direct jobs, and that in Enugu, they are expecting that by the time they finish, employment opportunities for over 4,000-5,000 people would be created.
He also highlighted the company’s innovative model, which partners with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to provide services without charging them rent, sharing revenues instead.
Onwuanibe also pointed to key infrastructure developments, including the dual carriageway connecting Nsukka and Enugu, which will enhance access to the resort.
He emphasised that successful tourism relies on three factors, accessibility, beauty, and security.
With these elements in place, Landmark Africa is confident that its West African expansion, starting with Enugu, will be a major success.
Erizia Rubyjeana
The post Landmark Africa Group Plans Leisure Destinations Along West African Coast appeared first on Arise News.
