Lagos State Government announced that the state attracted over N50 billion in investment through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) in the last year.
The State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade & Investment, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, disclosed this on Wednesday in Ikeja during the ongoing Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term.
Medebem said that among the new multi-billion naira investments is Twinings Ovaltine Nigeria Limited (TONL), owned by Associated British Foods Plc, which would expand the state’s productive base, generate employment, and improve its economy.
According to her, other investors in healthcare, retail, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), education, financial services, cybersecurity, agriculture, and manufacturing are also coming to Lagos. She further disclosed that many trade missions had gone from Lagos to the United Kingdom (UK) with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) to explore new trade opportunities.
“TONL, which formerly imported from China and packaged into retail units here, has now committed to fully manufacturing its products in Lagos with the acquisition of an industrial site in Ogba.
“The N38 billion investment will employ one hundred and twelve people directly and over two hundred others as distributors by 2025, while generating over $8 million in exports to West African countries.
“Other investors in healthcare, retail, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), education, financial services, cybersecurity, agriculture, and manufacturing are also coming to Lagos, while many trade missions have gone from Lagos to the United Kingdom (UK) with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) to explore new trade opportunities.
“Our participation in investment and business summits across the world actively seeks to retain and bring investment opportunities available in the state to the attention of potential investors, with the aim to attract capital, skills, innovation, and technology to create more local jobs, increase productivity, and generate higher revenue,” the commissioner stated.
She expressed that the state, in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S+ Development Agenda, remained committed to formulating enabling and supporting policies, executing infrastructure interventions, and designing trade expansion programs and projects to accelerate the economic development of the state, assuring that the Sanwo-Olu administration was leaving no stone unturned in improving the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the state.
“For instance, Lagos State applied and met all criteria to qualify for the first phase of the World Bank-funded State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) program set under the Four Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) covering improved land administration and land-based investment process (DLI1); improved investment promotion environment (DLI2); increased transparency of official fees and procedures (DLI3); and increased transparency of fees and levies for inter-state trade (DLI4).
“The state also successfully completed the reforms for the additional next stage comprising eight DLIs for the first year cycle of the SABER program, and it is fully on track to meet all subsequent evaluations by the program,” Medebem said.
Speaking further, she disclosed that the state government and the Bank of Industry (BOI) had concluded on matched production and trade funding of N1 billion each to be accessed by Nano, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (NMSMEs), with exportable products, to scale their businesses and earn foreign exchange.
The commissioner described this as a bold move to internationalize and empower the state’s NMSMEs to grow their productive ventures, bolster regional and global trade, and increase the state’s contribution to the nation’s non-oil export. She said that the funding would complement the state’s current engagement with the Nigerian Arabian Gulf Chamber of Commerce (NAGCC) to facilitate agricultural products and value chain to the six Gulf States through the Nigerian Trade House in Dubai.
“This is a bold move to internationalize and empower our NMSMEs to grow their productive ventures, bolster regional and global trade, and increase the state’s contribution to the nation’s non-oil export.
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“The funding will complement our current engagement with the Nigerian Arabian Gulf Chamber of Commerce (NAGCC) to facilitate agricultural products and value chain to the six Gulf States through the Nigerian Trade House in Dubai,” she stated.
Medebem assured that the state government, under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would continue to engage, collaborate, support, and work with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to ensure a conducive environment for doing business in the state.