Lagos govt seeks more investment from West African countries

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said its doors are open to investment in different sectors from the West African region and beyond.

The State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperation, Trade, and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, made this known while addressing members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament at their plenary in Lagos.

She said that Lagos’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of N41 trillion represents about 25 per cent of the national figures and is bigger than those of many Western countries.

Mrs Ambrose-Medebem told the West African parliamentarians that investment opportunities existed in water supply, transportation, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and the service sector.

Speaking in favour of Lagos as a good investment destination, the commissioner noted that Lagos had, over the past few years, become an African Mega City as a result of achieving tremendous growth in its population, budget, and GDP.

“Over the past few years, Lagos has become an African Mega City as a result of achieving tremendous growth in its population, budget, and gross domestic product,” she said.

Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, a member of the ECOWAS Parliament from Nigeria, underscored the need for the parliament to maintain its rules of membership, saying that it should ensure that no country can withdraw members once they have been sworn in, no matter the political issues in the home state.

Ndume, while making the call, cited the exit of Mali, Gambia, and Burkina Faso, which he noted were no longer part of the ECOWAS Parliament.

“ECOWAS needs to be strict with its rules on membership and ensure the independence of parliaments from local politics in member countries,” Ndume said.

Also speaking, Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe commended Nigeria for its role in the 1990s through a peacekeeping mission to restore peace and democracy to Liberia, calling on the ECOWAS Parliament not to let such great sacrifices be in vain.

Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Parliament has congratulated Ghana on the peaceful national elections held last year in the country and also the seamless transition of power, urging member states to emulate Ghana’s experience.

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