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He started Landmark in 1997 in London. The aim? To help smaller businesses access well-located, highend office spaces at a reasonable cost, thereby enhancing their brand’s image. The name Landmark, he explains, epitomises ‘image, ‘destination’ and ‘location’.
Before long, Landmark was operating across seven different European countries as well as the city of New York in America.
“I then thought to myself, ‘we must really do this in Africa, because Africa is so undersupplied; very virgin and very new and in dire need of an office network platform,’” its founder explains.
In 2003 Landmark Africa was born. It opened offices across four different locations on the continent over the period: Johannesburg, in the south; Lagos, in the west; Nairobi, in the east, and Cairo, in the north. At the time, big international players such as Dell, Siemens, Google and Microsoft had recently moved into Africa – many of these companies became Landmark Africa’s clients.
Fast forward to the present day and Landmark Africa has transformed from solely being a property development company to creating a set of business, leisure and lifestyle destinations that are unique to Africa.
“We have every sector and every service within our ecosystem. Health facilities, education facilities, offices, business facilities, F&B outlets, hospitality, sports and retail. We even have the only in-city private beach on the West African coastline, so we believe we have developed a vastly different and unique live, work and play platform,” Onwuanibe says.
PIONEERING MIXED-USE DESTINATIONS IN AFRICA
It is not just Landmark Africa that has changed, but also the sector it works in.
“The property development industry is changing dramatically in Nigeria,” Onwuanibe explains. “It’s a