The World Trade Centre in Abuja is the first of its kind on the continent; purpose-built triple A offices and posh residential apartments that is set to change the skyline of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory for good. The economic nuance in this project is that it puts prospective subscribers in touch with businesses around the world who are members of the World Trade Centre. Nigerian brands that eventually subscribe to the facilities of the WTC Abuja automatically set themselves up for prospective alliances with a network that includes some 324 licensees of the World Trade Centre network in about 89 countries and counting.
The World Trade Centre Association describes itself as “The World Trade Centers Association stimulates trade and investment opportunities for commercial property developers, economic development agencies, and international businesses looking to connect globally and prosper locally.
Our association serves as an ‘international ecosystem’ of global connections, iconic properties, and integrated trade services under the umbrella of a prestigious brand.
The exclusive ‘World Trade Center’ and ‘WTC’ branded properties and trade service organizations are located in more than 90 countries and supported by 15,000 WTC professionals that deliver integrated, reciprocal resources to solve your business needs.” This essentially places Nigerian businesses on the map of opportunities specific to them in the country. In a world where trade restrictions continue to limit several African businesses and brands, this is certainly a step in the right direction and one to look forward to beyond the the impending transformation of Abuja’s skylines.
It remains to be seen how Nigerian brands plug into these opportunities seeing as protectionist government policies are have impacted negatively on the competitive edge of a lot of Nigerian brands. While we advocate for free market and the free movement of goods across borders, it helps to see opportunities available for such within an ecosystem to transverses the limits of international trade and peculiar regional and national trade restrictions. The WTC Abuja is inspiring in its outlook and revolution in its design but the one major advantage this will bring to Nigerian brands and businesses is that it would help open up the opportunities often limited my immigration policies and anachronistic trade laws.
