By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Lagos state government says it is looking at increasing retail trading to over 60 per cent and making available more infrastructures in order to improve the ease of doing business in the state. The Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated this during the 8th edition of the EU-Nigeria Business Forum which held in Lagos on Thursday.
While describing the forum’s theme tagged “Nigeria and the New Economy” as apt and appropriate, Sanwo-Olu noted that there is a need for serious engagement and discussions with policymakers to address the challenges that constitute barriers of investments in the country.
He stated that the state is looking at increasing its retail trade to over 60 per cent and build more infrastructures to ensure it leverages the Nigerian market demand even as the state is aiming to become the export hub for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and exports into West Africa.
According to him, this will improve and enhance trade between Nigeria and other West African countries in an organic manner in the next 25 to 30 years. He said the state is on the verge of completing its 32 metric tonnes of rice mill infrastructure located in Imota and added that Lagos state is working with national bodies and French companies to develop the biggest food markets in the country.
“We know that Lagos state, being the West Africa main trade hub, can act as a regional gateway for transit, port services and container outputs. We are happy that before the end of the year, we will be opening the deep seaport in Lekki which will further decongest the ports we have in Apapa and Tincan. There is also an approval for a Badagry port, we believe that with all of this decentralisation, Lagos will continue to remain a hub for international trade.
We also want to establish a world class international financial center, ranked as a leading hub in Africa. Financial services account for about 7 per cent of GDP here in Lagos while Fintech investments here in Nigeria have grown to almost 200 per cent in the last 3 years. We will also establish the state as the base for high quality cutting edge sustainable real estate markets in West Africa”, Sanwo-Olu said.