There are buildings that fill a skyline, and there are buildings that define it. Azuri Towers belongs to the second category. Rising above Eko Atlantic City — the new coastal city being built on reclaimed ocean land adjacent to Victoria Island in Lagos — Azuri Towers stands as the tallest residential skyscraper in Nigeria, and a marker of what is possible when ambition, discipline, and genuine expertise converge.
I led its development as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Eko Development Company — the same role and the same accountability across both the FZE entity operating inside the Eko Atlantic Free Trade Zone and the Limited entity outside it. That experience — from early feasibility through to commissioning in December 2021 — is the foundation of everything Makaya Consult now offers to landowners and investors navigating the same market.
The commercial specifics of Azuri — the cost modelling, the capital structure, the off-plan structuring, the decisions made under pressure — are precisely what I do not put on a public page. A developer who values discretion for their own deal should expect nothing less for a project I delivered. That discipline is not a limitation of this case study; it is the point of it. The relevant detail is the detail that applies to your mandate, and that conversation happens directly, under confidence.
The Case for Building Tall in Eko Atlantic
When development planning for Azuri began, the question was not simply architectural. It was strategic: what does Lagos need, and what does Eko Atlantic City need to become, in order to attract the residents, investors, and businesses that will make it a genuinely functioning city rather than a high-profile construction site?
The answer pointed to density, quality, and a statement of confidence. Lagos is one of the fastest-growing megacities on the planet. It faces a chronic shortage of formal, high-quality residential supply at every tier. At the premium end, the shortage is most acute — and the demand most resilient. A landmark tower in a purpose-built city with its own infrastructure, security, power, and drainage was not a luxury project for its own sake. It was a response to a genuine market need.
"Buildings of this scale are not acts of ego. They are acts of confidence in a city's future. Azuri was our statement that Eko Atlantic is real, it is permanent, and it is the future of Lagos."
— Olawale OpayinkaDevelopment Timeline
Welcoming President Bill Clinton, with Governor Babatunde Fashola and Ronald Chagoury.
What Azuri Demonstrates About This Market
The successful delivery of Azuri Towers teaches several lessons that remain directly relevant to anyone investing in Eko Atlantic City today.
- Infrastructure matters above all. The tower's value is inseparable from the infrastructure around it: the road network, the power supply, the drainage, the security perimeter, and the sea defence. Eko Atlantic's infrastructure investment is what makes projects like Azuri viable — and replicable.
- The premium tier is resilient. Throughout the construction period — which spanned significant macroeconomic turbulence in Nigeria — demand for units in the premium tier remained strong. Quality and location are a hedge against volatility.
- Planning compliance is not optional. The tower's development required meticulous navigation of Eko Atlantic's regulatory framework. Attempting to shortcut this process creates risk that is not recoverable. Every project I advise today is built on the same compliance-first foundation.
- The visible skyline drives the next wave of demand. When Azuri Towers became visible from Victoria Island, it changed the conversation about Eko Atlantic from potential to reality. Completed, occupied buildings are the most powerful marketing any new city can deploy.
- Development expertise is not transferable from conventional markets. Eko Atlantic is not Lagos Island. It is not Ikoyi. It operates under its own rules, its own culture, and its own rhythms. The knowledge required to navigate it effectively is specific — and hard-won.
From Azuri to Makaya Consult
After the commissioning of Azuri Towers and the completion of my tenure at Eko Development Company, I founded Makaya Consult to make the expertise built through that experience available to the market independently. There is no other consulting practice in Nigeria that can offer the same combination: more than a decade at the operational heart of Eko Atlantic City, direct experience leading the delivery of its tallest building, and an actuarial rigour applied to investment analysis.
Clients come to Makaya Consult at different stages: some are evaluating whether to acquire land in the city; others already own parcels and are deciding how to develop or partner. Some are developers seeking a knowledgeable local partner; others are international investors whose advisors lack on-the-ground familiarity with the Eko Atlantic regulatory environment.
In each case, the conversation starts from the same place: what do you own or want to own, what do you want to achieve, and what is the most rigorous path from here to there? That is the work Makaya Consult was built to do.
The view from inside the market is different from the view outside it.
If you are evaluating an investment, a joint venture, or a development in Eko Atlantic City, speak with someone who has delivered at scale in this market. Makaya Consult offers independent, rigorous, conflict-free advisory.
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