How South-east is attracting huge investment through quality real estate – Pineleaf CEO Archbishop Nzekwesi

The South-East can attract more investment if property developers create well-planned communities that offer security, infrastructure and viable economic opportunities, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pineleaf Estates and Properties Ltd, Archbishop Dr Onyeka Joseph Nzekwesi, has said.

Nzekwesi stated this when members of the League of Anambra Journalists in Abuja (LAJA), led by its President, Ambassador Ikenna Okonkwo, visited him in Abuja.

He said his company had deliberately concentrated its real estate activities in the South-East and South-South because he believes the regions have significant untapped investment opportunities.

According to him, the decision has seen Pineleaf develop estates in several locations, including Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Delta and Rivers states.

He said the company’s approach was not simply to acquire and resell land but to transform undeveloped areas into organised communities.

“We don’t just buy land; we develop,” he said.

Nzekwesi cited developments around Awka and Isiagu in Anambra State, where he said locations that were once largely undeveloped now have residential estates and other infrastructure.

He said one of the company’s estates has nearly 500 houses at various stages of completion, including bungalows and duplexes, with features such as controlled access and CCTV.

The CEO also recalled the case of an investor who, after seeing one of his advertisements, travelled from Abuja to Anambra because he shared the company’s vision of developing an estate with an industrial component.

He said the investor subsequently bought 20 plots at ₦15 million each and paid cash.

For Nzekwesi, such transactions demonstrate the potential of the region when developers create projects capable of attracting investors on the basis of economic value rather than sentiment.

He said the company was also developing industrial estates because of his belief that the South-East needs to move beyond consumption and increase production.

“We need to begin to think about factories the same way we think about luxury vehicles,” he said.

He argued that families and communities should increasingly invest in productive enterprises that can create employment and sustainable income.

Nzekwesi said Pineleaf was also exploring agriculture, livestock production and other ventures as part of its wider economic-development vision.

He said the company’s ultimate objective was to make the South-East a place where people could live, invest, work and build businesses rather than simply return for holidays.

The visit by the LAJA delegation provided an opportunity for the journalists and the property developer to discuss investment, development and the role of Anambra professionals in promoting economic opportunities in the region.