Corporation has signed an agreement with the project. IFC is to market
the project to the world.
The company Secretary and Legal Adviser to the project, Chibuzo Ekwekwuo
revealed this at Government House, Umuahia while making presentations to
a group of Igbo economic professionals, Nzuko Umunna.
Ekwekwuo described then endorsement as a landmark in the project’s
history and added that the endorsement indicates that EEC project has
the potentialities of ranking among the top flight business deals in
Africa.
He further noted that the project ranks as the single largest
development project in the country ever captured in an public private
partnership arrangement.
Ekwekwuo anchored his claim on the premise that the project is 100%
private sector driven with a clearly defined shareholding structure of
50 Billion shares. 50% of the shares have already been subscribed while
the remaining 50% will be publicly offered through an Initial Public
Offer within the first five years of the commencement of construction.
According to him, some of the features of the project include an
uninterrupted power at the City to be generated independently of the
National Grid through the construction of a dedicated Power Plant in
addition to the Power Purchase Agreement already signed with Geometric
Power with guaranteed financing of 135 Million Dollars already in place
by Chinese Textile Giants RUI Group.
The project is also expected to have its own private sector driven
administrative agency to ensure first class service to its stakeholders.
IFC is an investment arm of the World Bank Group. The group possesses
over 60 years experience in unlocking private investment, creating
markets and opportunities where they are needed most and has leveraged
over 2.6 Billion Dollars in Capital to deliver more than 285 Billion
Dollars in business financing in developing countries.