…Lekki Port to take off 2023
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-olu said that the state will partner with the newly formed Infrastructure Company of Nigeria (InfraCo) to facilitate development of mega infrastructures like rail and new ports in its bid to become a model city in Africa.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this at the Banks’ CEO Summit, adding that the new Lekki Port will take off in the third quarter of 2023.
Sanwo-Olu said: “Our vision for Lagos now is to be Africa’s model city, a safe, secure, functional and productive state and it’s a vision that we have taught out very carefully.”
“Our mission is to eliminate poverty, promote economic growth through infrastructure renewal and development.”
Speaking on the infrastructure development of the state, especially new ports, Sanwo-Olu said: “The good news is that Lagos is building another port in Lekki and another in Badagry. The Lekki port should be on stream by the third quarter of 2023. The contractor is on track, they have done about 40 to 45 per cent of the work.
“Lagos has the capacity to take the two ports given the size of wealth that is coming to the city. So we need to decongest Apapa port.”
According to Sanwo-Olu, metropolitan Lagos accounts for 63 per cent of manufacturing firms in the country, hence should be classified as a global city.
He said: “Lagos sees itself as a global city so it needs to be competitive because when you are comparing cities of the size of Lagos, you don’t really compare it with cities in Nigeria but advanced cities globally.
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“We are setting up a very strong agenda for ourselves and the drivers to meet our targets are human capital as well as education. Infrastructure is also critical.
“Lagos has got appetite to take part of the N15 trillion of the infraco company. In 24 months we should see rail being moved to Lagos. There are other five rail projects that we are going to be shipping out and InfraCo fund will be very viable for us to see how we can develop infrastructure.
“Before the end of the year we can start building the Fourth Mainland Bridge.”
Banks should liberalise lending policy towards Northern Nigeria- Gov Zulum
Governor Babagana Zulum has called on banks to liberalise their lending policies toward Northern Nigeria to facilitate economic growth of the region.
Making this call at the Banks’ CEO Summit, Zulum said poor banking support for Northern Nigeria has affected and weakened the agricultural and economic development in the region.
He said: “ The mainstay of the north we all know is agriculture but inadequate funding has continued to be-devil it’s development. Poor banking support for Northern Nigeria has affected and weakened agricultural development in the region.
“Banks being financial institutions for wealth creation are expected to assist agriculture by providing finance to improve production.
“In his writing: “Effects of poor banking support for the development of Northern Nigeria,” Mahammud Hadisa, argued that poor banking support for Northern Nigeria has caused the gross reduction in the output of agriculture.
“He argued that regulatory agencies need to improve on banking policy support for agriculture and banks need to establish agriculture lending units to train manpower with proper knowledge and capacity for working with formers to achieve the desired production capacity.
“I personally share Mahammud’s insight into the adverse effects of poor banking support in Northern Nigeria. It has remained the root cause of poverty in the rural areas.
“I therefore make a personal appeal to bankers for liberalisation of their lending policies to Northern Nigeria in order to promote the development of agriculture in the region.”
Collaboration among states needed to tackle insecurity, build resilient economy -Fayemi
Speaking at the event, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, called for collaboration among the state governors to tackle insecurity and drive growth in the economy, saying that the issue of insecurity can only be resolved through such collaboration.
He said it was necessary for the state governors to look beyond their individual states and start to drive regional growth across neighbouring states in order to benefit from economies of scale and regional integration.
Fayemi also emphasised the need for a partnership between the federal and state governments in developing and implementing a national economic plan to increase the chances of success of such plans.
According to him, the state governors have identified reform of land management across states as a critical deliverable for 2021, saying that many states to deploy Geographic Information System, GIS and ensure that at least 50 percent of lands and properties in urban areas registered and geo-tagged.
He said: “We must look beyond our individual states and start to drive regional growth across neighbouring states to benefit from economies of scale, and regional integration. For example, security, which is a major constraint to economic activity, can only be resolved if states work together, share intelligence, and adopt a common approach to this problem. We will continue to encourage states to seek collaborative solutions to such problems, so the solutions can be effective and sustainable.
“We will also continue to engage with the federal government and its institutions, to ensure that states are an integral part of developing and implementing national economic plans. Only last week, we received a brief of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee on its poverty reduction plan for Nigeria. We will study the plan in detail and share insight from our various sub-nationals that will enhance the plan, and ensure we also actively participate in its implementation.
We adopted a similar approach with the Economic Sustainability Plan, and the collaborative effort adopted has given more impetus to the plan, evidenced by its rapid implementation across states. One example of this is how multiple states have provided land to Family Homes Funds, and also delivered its workforce as guaranteed off-takers when the houses are built. Without the active participation of states, such an exciting plan to improve the housing stock in Nigeria would have a reduced chance of success.
“We must remember that a rising tide lifts all boats. As sub-nationals we must jointly and severally create an environment that makes it easier to do business, and as a result, attract domestic and international investors. We have invited the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to partner with us on this, and the Book of States publication recently released by NIPC, is only a first step, which showcases the comparative advantages and investment opportunities across the 36 states.
We will deepen this by using peer lessons to adopt proven models of investment promotion, and ensure that no part of the country is left behind. With the adoption of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), it is now more important that we focus on both national and sub-national business reforms. This is why we will also work with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBCEC) to monitor and advise States on how to make their jurisdictions more competitive.
“As I have said at different fora, many might argue that none of the actions we take at the sub-national and even national levels to revive our economy will succeed with a high level of insecurity; and I agree. However, I will repeat that we need to emerge from this crisis with a plan to create jobs and put food on the tables of our people; I repeat this knowing that by focusing on job creation and poverty reduction, we will reduce the lack of opportunity, which remains a big incentive for crime. Where unscrupulous characters insist on crime, we must be ready to tackle them with well-trained and appropriately remunerated security agencies.”
States must increase investment in education to tackle poverty, insecurity – Rewane
The 36 states government must increase investment to address the problem of poverty and insecurity in the country.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane made this call at the Banks’ CEOs Summit, citing inadequate investment in education as a major cause of poverty and insecurity especially in the northern part of the country.
Rewane said: “There is a twenty year gap between when you invest in education and when you get the benefit in prosperity. Lack of education leads to poverty, poverty leads to insecurity. The lesson here is that insecurity somewhere is insecurity everywhere and economic insecurity leads to political insecurity. The time lag between misunderstanding and violence is becoming shorter in Nigeria.”
Giving the ranking of states in terms of development, Rewane said: “When you look at the state by state analysis, the fastest growing state in the country is Abuja with 9.35 per cent. Akwa Ibom is next with 4.53 per cent, Rivers is 4.49, Delta 3.57 per cent, Bayelsa 2.78 per cent and Anambra 2.7 per cent. Three of the states are oil producing states and the federal capital territory is beneficial of fiscal dominance.
“The slowest growing states are Zamfara 0.97 per cent, Ebonyi 1.17 per cent, Ekiti 1.22 per cent, Jigawa 1.26 per cent, Osun State at 1.29 per cent”.
According to Rewane, the highest unemployment in Nigeria is in Imo state at 48 per cent that means five out of ten people are unemployed.
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