Chagoury brothers launch Eko Atlantic, air from Dubai to Lagos
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton attended last Thursday in Lagos at the opening of the first phase of a giant real estate project called the “Dubai of Africa”, which count 250,000 residents.
Behind the completely private housing, called Eko Atlantic , two brothers of Lebanese origin, Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury, are at the head of a financial empire in Nigeria.
The project will reach 9 km ², on an artificial island along the Nigerian coast, the bay in front of Victoria where the coastline has undergone significant erosion since the beginning of last century. Ultimately, 150,000 people should work Eko Atlantic.
At the ceremony marking the launch of the project, Mr. Clinton, now with the President of Nigeria Mr Goodluck Jonathan and Ronald Chagoury, marveled, saying: “I think five years from now, people will come around just to admire the work”.
Eko Atlantic will offer luxury apartments, several marinas, shopping malls and offices and benefit from its own water turbines and electric power as well as private security.
The new city will be completely independent of Lagos, the most populous city in Africa after Cairo, with 15 million inhabitants.
The company of a two big Lebanese businessmen, Chagoury Group, are covering areas as diverse as milling, mineral water, construction and hostelry. Today, this group is represented by investments, not only in Africa but also in Europe and America.
Chagoury brothers, originating from Miziara in northern Lebanon, grew up in Nigeria, where their parents (Ramez and Alice) had emigrated in the 40s
The two businessmen have however kept strong ties with Lebanon, investing millions of dollars in infrastructure projects and several hospitals in the country of cedar
Gilbert Chagoury has also been honored several times by the Vatican for his “contributions to the Christian community.”
In 2009, he received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest honor bestowed by the Holy Seat. In 2007, he was honored by the French government awarded him the distinction of “Grand Donor Ministry of Culture and Communication.” Mr. Chagoury has been particularly benefit the art department of the Louvre several remarkable gifts, including six tapestries of the seventeenth century, and a pair of vases “vases de Sevres”.
Ambassador of Saint Lucia (Caribbean) to the United Nations in Geneva and the Vatican, Gilbert Chagoury acquired in 2003 the residence of the famous American actor of Lebanese descent, Danny Thomas. He said he wanted to buy the house of the actor to preserve as part of Lebanese heritage.
The residence, located in Beverly Hills, the upscale suburb of Los Angeles, California, is distinguished by its architecture very original, the late actor who insisted that his entry to look like a cedar. Thomas, known in his lifetime for his commitment in favor of charities, was made famous by the creation of the famous Saint Jude’s hospital for the fight against cancer.
Orient-lejour
February 25, 2013