Lagos urges Stakeholders to embrace Diversification Policy to grow Economy

Lagos State government on Friday said it has continued to undertake initiatives to overcome economic challenges occasioned by local and global factors, urging the stakeholders to drive the state’s economic diversification policy in order to overcome the current challenges and grow the economy.

The state Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Dr. Lola Akande, gave the charge at a press briefing to announce the maiden edition of Lagos Island Business Connect Fair 2022 in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

Akande said the Lagos Island Business Fair, themed: “Edu-Social for Entrepreneurs in Lagos Island & Lagos State Towards Social Economic Empowerment,” scheduled to hold in Lagos on Thursday, November 24 to Sunday, is part of the initiatives to overcome the challenges.

She added that the well-thought-out LI-BIZ-Fair bears direct relevance to the clarion call of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of transforming and positioning the state for the 21st-century economy.

Besides, the commissioner said the fair was designed to encourage the promotion of business and social enterprise among entrepreneurs – particularly the youths, create opportunities to identify comparative advantages present in Lagos Island and strengthen bottom-up growth for continuous business interaction and socio-economic security.

She added that the event would also provide training opportunities for MSMEs in Business Education, Networking and Leadership qualities during the masterclass sessions.

The commissioner, while noting that the state is collaborating with the organisers because the Biz Fair aligns with the Federal Government’s Policy on diversification of the economy from the focus on oil to non-oil export, said the state government also considered the Fair quite important because it was giving special attention to youth entrepreneurs beside focusing on all MSMEs in Lagos Island in particular and Lagos State/Nigeria in general.

“We also consider the Fair quite important because while it focuses on all MSMEs in Lagos Island in particular and Lagos State/Nigeria in general, it is giving special attention to youth entrepreneurs.

“At various times, the Nigerian MSMEs, especially the youths, have been advised not to let lack of finance be an impediment to their ability to build successful businesses, create wealth and contribute their quota to the society.

“Even more important in the quest for self-realization are such other factors as skills training, continuous learning, being aware of their surroundings and what obtains globally in the business world, among others,” Akande stated.

The commissioner, however, noted that the Sanwo-Olu government had provided social economic empowerment and interventions in various ways for the MSMEs of which the state’s teeming youth formed a major part.

According to her, the present administration has also commenced a youth empowerment programme, under its Jobs Initiative Lagos (JIL), targeted at final-year students and those in penultimate classes in higher institutions, assuring that the Sanwo-Olu administration would continue to work towards implementing this initiative as a yearly programme/event.

The Commissioner said the programme targets 8,000 entrepreneurs, who will undergo entrepreneurship and employability skills training programmes, noting that the Job Initiative Lagos was aimed at preparing participants for immediate entry into the workforce as employees and employers of labour, by equipping them with the new market-aligned knowledge, soft skills, business tools, and a mindset re-orientation that would make them suitable and qualify for their chosen career in the technology-driven world of work.

She added that the Lagos Island Business Fair falls into the category of other similar events in which the administration, through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, collaborated to ensure exposure of the state MSMEs to the outside world.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE