Nigeria is again left out in the cold as, US retail company Amazon is set to begin construction for its African headquarters in South Africa.
Although Amazon’s web engineering giant AWS has been in South Africa for years, Amazon will occupy a 15-hectare River Club mixed-use development which costs R4 billion and includes two precincts; Amazon headquarters in Africa and several developments for commercial and housing purposes, it has been reported.
Cape Town city officials said in a statement that the “US retail giant, Amazon, will be the anchor tenant, opening a base of operations on the African continent. The development is envisaged to take place in phases, with construction set to take place over three to five years”.
The statement said the development would take place in phases and construction may take as long as three to five years. It is also expected to create 5,239 jobs in the construction phase alone and 19,000 indirect and induced jobs during the project.
The news which has rattled Nigeria, is coming on the heels Twitter’s recent announcement to open an office in Ghana for Africa operations based on the country’s AfCFTA negotiations and access to the internet.
As expected Nigerians have since taken to social media to review the development.