IBPulse.com: Commerce

Odu'a Investments Company Ltd has officially commissioned the twin mall at the Dugbe Central Business District of Ibadan. The mall is said to be the largest in the entire southwest region of Nigeria.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Group Managing Director of Odua Investments Company Ltd, Mr. Adebayo Jimoh, said since it opened for business, the mall has created more than 2,000 jobs for Ibadan residents and has brought various local and international brands to the region.

Shoprite, Mr. Price, Cash and Carry, Samsung and Life Mate Furniture, Smile, Airtel, SLOT, the Film House, O’net, Etisalat, Pep Store, Wema Bank, Enterprise bank, eatries, art gallery and other local retail operators dealing in diverse goods and products.

Odu'a said the idea for the project was conceived about 4 years ago under its Property Re-development programme to expand its investments base and serve the people of the vast region, who often travelled abroad or to Lagos for their vital shopping needs.

Mr. Tokunbo Omisore, the Chief Executive Officer of Top Services Ltd, a private firm of developers which part-financed one of the arms of the gigantic building, the Cocoa Mall decried the reluctance of banks to finance the 103-shop mall project.

He said: “We all need to work to ensure that the shops succeed, government needs to create the enabling environment while the public needs to patronise them. Thank God, the shopping mentality of the residents is changing today. It will be a pity if in few years we find half of this place deserted.”

At the outset, the company said it budgeted NGN2 billion but ended up spending NGN3 billion. We've earlier reported that the mall has become a beehive of activities since it opened for business about 2 months ago.