Press Releases

Fashola Flags Off Lagos Economic Summit “EHINGBETI 2010”
“The Governor has demonstrated great leadership”, says Guest Speaker

Apr 20, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday flagged off the 5th Lagos Economic Summit – EHINGBETI 2010 – with an assurance to investor that the State has a huge basket of investible projects for those “who are ready to put their money to work in pursuit of worthwhile returns”.

His assurance came just as a Guest Speaker at the occasion, Professor Paul Collier of the Department of Economics in Oxford University, United Kingdom, commended him for “demonstrating great leadership” through his policy of institutionalization of government decisions.

Governor Fashola, who spoke through his Deputy, Princess Sarah Sosan, at the Zinnia Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites venue of the occasion, said such investible projects lie in the areas of toll roads, ferry services and water transportation, public water supply, sewage, power supply and much more.

The Governor further assured the investors that State Government officials would be available in the various sessions and at the exhibition stands to provide facts and figures relating to estimated projects costs, the quantum of local market demand for the service, the strengths and challenges of each sector.

Governor Fashola also addressed unsavory media exposure that some western economies have unleashed on Lagos State and Nigeria saying the Government sees the adverse exposures as a sign of economic warfare by economies that feel threatened by the potentials of the Lagos Economy and the reality of the flight of capital from the foreign countries to Lagos.

Said he: “We understand that cameras will only see what the man behind the camera wants to see and we take these adverse exposures as a sign of economic warfare by economies that feel threatened by the potentials of our economy and the reality of the flight of capital from them to us”.

“We make no apologies for the attractiveness of our economy at tis time in global history. The purveyors of those economic warfare videos overlook one thing-investment decisions are not based on propaganda but on risk evaluation and return on investment. In these respects, Lagos today has a clear advantage. It is not an economy that is in dire credit straits and it has a huge appetite and real demand. It is the investors’ magnet”, Governor Fashola added.

Governor Fashola said since the last summit in 2008, the State Government has worked very hard to implement the 37 resolutions and action points of the last summit, adding that he is pleased to report the State has implemented 34 resolutions.

He added: “It is perhaps important at this stage to contextualize our situation. We did not make ourselves a megacity. We are victims of the hope and attraction for economic opportunities that our state offers people who are displaced, impoverished or who seek a better life in a State that has become fabled for many rags to riches stories within Nigeria and the sub-region. It is the destination for investment in hi-tech, retail, finance and every serious investment initiative”.

The Governor explained that all of these have happened despite a virtual cessation of investment in infrastructure and increasing urbanization, adding that in spite of these, the administration have accepted its megacity status and set an ambitious but achievable goal of making Lagos the model mega city for Africa.

In his words: “In the last two years since the last summit, we have invested wisely as a Government in infrastructure, spending close to 60% of our annual budgets on roads, schools, healthcare, security, jetties, markets, court rooms, the environment and water supply to mention a few”.

The State Governor said during the period, the State has addressed poverty by creating jobs, made the State safer by bringing down violent crime by as much as 79%, mitigated desperate conditions in the State by improving traffic efficiency and making the State cleaner and has boosted the confidence of investors in the State.

According to the Governor: “We have issued two State Bonds to raise finance each for N50 Billion and both have been oversubscribed. These are positive indicators of the confidence and appetite of local investors in our economy, our Government and what we are doing

Our State shares the same sovereign rating as the Federal Government and the prognosis over the long term remain encouraging because we are now responsible for generating 70% of our incomes from within our State and depend on the Federal Government for about 30% of our revenues”.

For an economy that is experiencing infrastructure investment on such a sustained scale after almost three decades, the possibilities for growth, expansion and opportunities are truly exciting as our road projects are being completed, additional water supply is being delivered, and our rail project gets underway”, Governor Fashola added.

Presenting his paper titled “The Place of Lagos In Africa”, Professor Collier declared, “By his policy of institutionalization and systematization of governance, Governor Fashola has demonstrated great leadership”, adding that by strengthening the institutions of governance, the Governor is laying a solid foundation for leadership of the future.

“The difference between good leadership and great leadership is that great leaders make leadership for the future less important and they do that by building the institutions and the processes which ensure that their good decisions continue after they have left government”, Professor Collier said.

According to him “I believe Governor Fashola is also demonstrating really good leadership. A good leader is known by his character, his charisma, his intelligence, his force which fosters change and that is what is seen in the Governor”.

He said the Governor’s policy of institutionalization of decisions and his manifest reforms of the system would confluence in the future into confidence on the City adding, “To look up to Lagos as the major Investment City of Africa, the key word is Confidence. Confidence depends, not on any person, no matter how important the individual may be; this Confidence rests on solid institutions”.

Thanking the Governor for the opportunity offered him by the invitation to the Summit, the Guest Speaker said one advantage Lagos has over most other cities of the world “is that it is a coastal city, positioned to major markets of the world, near Europe and North America”, adding that it also has a huge hinderland and in Nigeria.

“It is no gainsaying that Lagos is the biggest city in Africa and in the biggest country in Africa. Thank God for Nigeria which has a much larger proportion of Africa; a much larger proportion of the African people”, he said adding that Lagos has a unique combination of a great coastal position and a huge population which, according to him, means huge productivity.

Earlier in his welcome address, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze had given an insight into the 37 resolutions and action points of the 2008 summit, reporting that the State has successfully implemented 34 out of the resolutions.

Prominent among those who were present at the ceremony were members of the State Executive Council, some members of the State House of Assembly, the Co-Chairman of the Lagos Economic Summit Group, Mr Olabode Agosto and captains of industries.