The company is part of a consortium that is expanding the waterfront retail, leisure and office concept to Libreville, capital of Gabon, and Lagos, Nigeria, with others possibly to follow.

Construction has begun on the 100m Re Dowe project in Libreville, scheduled for completion in five years.

The first phase of Re Dowe comprises an exhibition centre and amusement park, with retail, residential and hotel developments to follow once additional land has been reclaimed.

Progress on the Nigerian project, with an estimated US400m price tag, has been delayed by 18 months.

But consulting engineers Entech Consultants have expressed confidence that construction will start by midyear once negotiations with various levels of government have been completed. The project is expected to take six years to complete and will comprise both leisure and commercial developments.

Land reclamation is, once again, a crucial part of the Lagos project.

Entech has been instrumental in putting the consortia together.

Apart from V&A, members include architects Stauch Vorster, town planners Planning Partners and a number of local investors. In Nigeria, the CSIR has provided research and data backing.

Financial Mail