Why We Funded Aba Mega Mall – FCMB

Aba (Abia) – The Regional Head, South-East / South-South, First City Monument Bank plc, Mr. Okey Ezeala, has said that the bank funded Aba Mega Mall to create more jobs for Nigerians.

He said that although the bank saw the enabling environment and political will in the government, it was more interested in creating jobs than making profits from the project.
Ezeala disclosed this during an interview with newsmen in Aba after the inauguration of first phase of the Aba Mega Mall.
The Aba Mega Mall is a Public-Private Partnership project jointly owned by the Greenfield Assets Management Ltd and the Abia State government.

The owners say the mall sitting on a 280,000 square meters will on completion host 100, 000 shops.
“We became willing to partner with them for as long as we were convinced that the project will impact the environment.
“It is going to impact the neighbourhood and the community. It is going to put a lot of people out of the job market.
“It is going to put food on the table for so many families. It is going to bring uplift in the lives of our people.
“Some of these things are done not because of the profit motivation. Some altruism comes into it,” he said.

Earlier, the State governor, Chief Theodore Orji in his speech thanked the people of Osisioma Ngwa who donated their land willingly for the project to be sited on.
Orji said that the project would add value to the business environment and the lives of the people of the state.
“We are leaving Abia State better than we met it and we urge the incoming government to make it better,” he said.
According to him, the project would change the face of Aba and the way people in it traded for the enjoyment of all residents.
The Group Managing Director, Greenfield Assets Management Ltd, Mr Paul Obanua said that the company invested in the project in line with its commitment to urban renewal.
He thanked the governor and his men for giving them approval for the project without asking them for any favours or taking money from them.

Obanua said that the first phase of the project which has been completed, has about 1000 shops, and that the mall would host 100,000 shops on completion.
He said that the mall would contain an abbatoir, host the first dry port in the South East, a cinema hall and a Customs and Excise duty post with a controller as the head.

Obanua said the company recognised the creativity and potentials of Aba residents and were putting up structures to help the town harness its potential.
He called on business people around the city to buy into the plan of owning shops at the mall.