Redeveloped Maryland Business Plaza was opened to customers mostly based on the mainland [Photos]

The official commissioning of Maryland Mall is coming barely two months after Purple Capital attracted additional funding for the retail development in the form of a N800 million investment from asset management firm, AXA Mansard Investments Ltd. Thankfully, residents of this fast growing city can now boast of an additional shopping mall, the Maryland Mall, thanks to the foresight of Purple Capital Partners Limited (PCPL), which began financing and developing the N5 billion retail, lifestyle and entertainment complex barely three years ago.

Declaring the Maryland Mall open for business, Mrs Onikepo Akande, President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said: “It is my sincere belief that this new mall will help to expose and grow the manufacturing and commercial potential of Lagos state and by extension, the national economy, indeed, retail is one of the cornerstones of trading and investment, and Purple Capital, the developers of Maryland Mall, have done extremely well to give Maryland a new lease of life through this retail investment" .

As Nigeria’s industrial and commercial capital, Lagos is expected to lead the national count for modern shopping malls over the next decade, in tandem with the city’s fast growing population, currently put at anywhere between 17 and 20 million people.

Mr. Omotola Mobolurin, Chairman of Purple Capital Partners Limited says: “I am delighted about the safe arrival of this new retail, lifestyle and entertainment infrastructure, with the capacity to provide merchants and shoppers with amenities and services that befit the state’s mega-city status. It is particularly gratifying that the construction and financing for this retail development is being concluded on time and within projected funding estimates.”

Located where the defunct Maryland Shopping Center was once located, Maryland Mall sits on one of the most important arterial routes in Lagos today, with an estimated 5,000 cars passing through every hour. The mall sits on a total land size of 7,700sqm and will have the first dedicated underground car park within any mall in Nigeria. It will play host to a mix of local and international brands anchored by Shoprite, The Place restaurant, Stanbic IBTC Bank, amongst other retail, hospitality and entertainment brands.

The exterior of the mall will be a 550 square meter LED screen, the largest in Sub-Sahara Africa. This unique feature will set it apart from any other retail complex in Africa’s most populous nation. Currently, only 2% of Nigerians shop in formal retail supermarkets compared to 60% of South Africans, 30% of Kenyans, 4% of Ghanaians and 2% of Cameroonians.

Retail trade presently accounts for about 30 per cent of the world's GDP (gross domestic product). This is about $22 trillion of retail sales each year. Official government data shows that Nigeria attracted over $1.5 billion in investments into its formal retail sector over the last three years. Available statistics also show that over 80 million Nigerians now live in metropolitan areas, creating huge opportunities for formal retail to thrive.

Lagos is currently home to several malls. Most of these malls are however located on the coastal, more affluent sections of the state – in the Ikoyi-Victoria Island-Lekki peninsula axis – commonly referred to as the Island. On the mainland side of Lagos are population heavy zones like Ojota, Oyingbo, Ojuelegba, Mile 2, Ikorodu and Ikeja, the state’s administrative capital which also has many residential cum commercial districts, like Agege, Ogba, Ojodu, and Maryland just to name a few.