Lagos Woos Foreign
Investors In France
The
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has travelled to
France recently to woo the business community in Paris. The trip
was also meant to strengthen the state’s drive for increased
partnership in investments.
A statement by the government said, the meeting at the corporate
headquarters of the French prime club of investors, the
Mouvement Des Enterprises De France, focused on investment
opportunities in Lagos with emphasis on Public Private
Partnership, PPP.
Public-private collaboration
Governor Fashola said that the intention behind the vision to
transform Lagos into Africa’s model mega city was to improve the
standard of living of the people through provision of
infrastructure.
Towards this end, he said, ’’ Government had committed
tremendous investments to new roads construction and
improvements to existing road networks within the city, trough
public private partnership.’’
The Lekki-Epe Expressway, the first PPP road infrastructure
project in West Africa, is one of the major ongoing road
rehabilitation and construction projects.
According to the statement, other PPP success stories are the
Security Trust Fund which equipped the Nigeria Police Squad and
led to a significant reduction in crime rates in the state; the
development of a Power Master-plan and establishment of a local
transformer manufacturing facility to serve current and expected
market demands.
Others are the conclusion of the Bus Rapid Transit transport
scheme, including ferry services, which has made Lagos a
continental model; the environment, with special focus on
‘Green’ landscape and beautification, drainage, urban planning
and renewal as well as the development of Regional Master-plans
for the proposed Eko Atlantic City project.
The Niche
Governor Fashola said, ’’Lagos is naturally poised for foreign
investments because it is not only the largest market in West
Africa but also home to more than 250 financial institutions and
10,000 of Nigeria’s commercial concerns.’’
He declared that Lagos is already strategically poised as
investors’ destination of choice.
’’Lagos attracts 70 percent of Nigeria’s commercial activities,
it accounts for 60 percent of Nigeria’s total industrial
investments, foreign trade and VAT revenue; West Africa’s
largest and busiest airport, the Murtala Mohammed Airport, is in
Lagos; it has two of West Africa’s major seaports and it is the
only state in Nigeria that funds 60 percent of its monthly
budget via Internally Generated Revenue.’’
Investment Areas
Governor Fashola listed power, infrastructure, transportation,
tourism and housing as some of the major sectors where
investment opportunities exist, adding that the government had
provided an enabling environment to protect investors.
Prospective investors are encouraged through the enactment of
the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law, the provision of an
institutional framework for PPP by setting up the PPP Committee
and PPP Office.
Other steps taken to guarantee conducive investment environment
include direct financial investment in projects by the
government, provision of tax relief and benefits and the
inauguration of the Lagos Judicial Arbitration Centre.
The leverage
The Governor reminded the French investors of the business
leverage the state enjoys in Nigeria. Presently there are over
120 French companies in Lagos in the oil and gas, automobiles,
redistributive trade and construction sectors.
Governor Fashola said as a sign of growing confidence in Lagos,
there has been Multilateral Donor Partnerships in which the
World Bank, DFID and other allied agencies have commitments.
The governor’s trip already engendered numerous positive
enquiries from the investors, representatives of multi-national
corporations, investment consultants and senior officials of the
French Parliament and government.
PR/Qasim/Yinka
