Tinapa Resort

Tinapa Resort
General information
Location near Calabar, Cross River, Nigeria
Coordinates 5°03′00″N 8°19′03″E / 5.049992°N 8.317423°E / 5.049992; 8.317423Coordinates: 5°03′00″N 8°19′03″E / 5.049992°N 8.317423°E / 5.049992; 8.317423
Opening 2 April 2007
Owner Cross River State

Tinapa is a business and leisure resort just north of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria associated with the Calabar Free Trade Zone. It is being developed in four phases under a Private Public Partnership (PPP) promoted by the Government of Cross River State. The resort is located by the Calabar River, contiguous with the Calabar Free Trade Zone.[1]

Facilities

The Tinapa Free Zone & Resort has facilities for retail and wholesale activities as well as leisure and entertainment. For consumers, the resort has about 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) of lettable space for retail and wholesale made up of four emporiums of 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft) each and smaller shops, warehouses, and so on. An entertainment strip contains a casino, digital cinema, children's arcade, restaurants, a mini amphitheater, a night club and pubs. There is an artificial tidal lake that feeds from the Calabar River, a Water Park / Leisure Land and parking Space for about 4,000 cars.[1]

Business facilities include an open exhibition area for trade exhibitions and other events, and a movie production studio commonly called "Studio Tinapa" or "Nollywood". It is set to become the most modern film production studio in Nigeria. There is a 243 room international three star Hotel. The resort also has a truck terminal, and gets power from an independent power plant.[1]

Project history

Tinapa was initiated by Governor Donald Duke as a way to boost business and tourism in the state. Over $350 million was spent on initial development.[2] The first phase of Tinapa Business Resort & Free Zone, Calabar, was commissioned on the 2 April 2007.[1] Tinapa is a 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) drive from Calabar by a roundabout route, but the Federal government is building a more direct 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) access road to link it with the city.[3]

The legal status of the Tinapa Free Trade zone has been uncertain. It is owned by the Cross River state government, but only the Federal government can operate a free trade zone. Governor Liyel Imoke appealed to the Federal Government to take a stake in the project, and to remove uncertainty about its status which is hindering investment. He suggested that one approach could be to decouple the leisure facilities from the trading zone.[3] A February 2008 report by ThisDay newspaper said the Federal Government had not yet approved the operating procedures and guidelines. The resort was almost deserted. The few shops that were staffed would not sell their goods out of concern that customs officials would then force them to close.[4] A CNN report in 2010 showed that the complex was still largely empty, while interest payments on the construction cost of the complex were rising. Liyel Imoke told the CNN reporter that the state government was looking for private sector investors who could run the project more efficiently.[5]

A March 2010 report in the Daily Champion was optimistic. The report acknowledged that the project had suffered from bureaucratic delays, that there had been rumors of corruption and project abandonment, with key infrastructure incomplete. However, the report said that 90% of infrastructure and facilities were now ready, and that shops were now selling duty-free goods. It also claimed that the resort was increasingly being used for business and government functions, as planned.[6] In September 2010 Imoke said the government was focusing on resuscitating the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort.[7] A May 2011 report from the Daily Trust was entitled "Tinapa is dying". It said most of the shops had closed, and the other facilities such as the exhibition space and movie studio had not been used for a long time. The hotel was open but had hardly any guests. Only the water park was busy, since the reporter had visited during a school holiday.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tinapa Free Zone & Resort". African Sun. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  2. ↑ "Nigeria: Tinapa, Africa's Premier Business-Tourism Resort Opens Monday April 2". Huluq. 2007-04-01. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  3. 1 2 "Governor Imoke Urges Federal Government to Invest In Tinapa.". Cross River State. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  4. ↑ Ernest Chinwo (8 February 2008). "Country Loses N219b Yearly On Tinapa". ThisDay. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  5. ↑ "CNN - Tinapa Failing? (Video)". CNN. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  6. ↑ Victor Nze (12 March 2010). "Tinapa - Cross River's Gift to Tourism". Daily Champion. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  7. ↑ "From the Governor's Desk, October 2013". Cross River State. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  8. ↑ Shehu Abubakar (4 May 2011). "Tinapa is dying". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
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