Press Releases

Our Journey To Development Is Underway, Says Fashola As Ehingbeti 2010 Ends

Apr 22, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Thursday drew the curtains on the 5th Lagos Economic Summit, Ehingbeti 2010 with an assertion that all the issues raised at the Summit are work in progress either awaiting policy conclusions, legislative intervention or executive action.

The Governor who spoke at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island venue of the event added that whatever the levels of implementation, the processes have started, stressing: “Our journey is underway and I assure you that in two years those of you who will be returning to the next summit and those you will bring along will only witness further progress in our State in these areas”.

Governor Fashola explained that the State would also be initiating cooperation with other states to drive change in areas where the Federal Government has responsibility that raise national concerns about progress and implementation.

According to the Lagos State helmsman, “Already, we have championed the hosting of a summit of sub-national leaders including other Governors, on the issue of the environment, climate change and renewable energy for May 2010 and we expect to drive collaborations of this sort in other areas as we go on”.

He reiterated his assertion that as Lagos stands in competition with other major cities of the world for economic attention and investment capital, no amount of economic warfare by empires and economies that are suffering diminishing returns can blunt the competitive edge that Lagos now command because emerging markets hold the key to the future and growth of global business.

He added: “It is a window of opportunity that out team is determined to harness because we are prepared”.

Our commitment to law and order, security of lives and properties and a stable political environment remains at the heart of our policy thrust and results show increasing safety and security statistics that better those of our competitors.

“Available security reports show that we are more safer than many other states in other foreign locations. In terms of data, I get not only monthly reports about all of the crimes data and incidents in the state. We hold a monthly security meeting and wherever I am in the world, I get daily text messages of at least two pages from the Commissioner of Police.

“We stand at a more advantageous position, but there is a perception issue which has to be addressed if we must retain our competitive edge. If you recall that some twenty or thirsty years ago, London was the target of several bombings by the IRA and this is no different from what has happened in the Niger Delta for which our country has received several bashings”, the Governor added.

He noted that the successful completion of the second Tranche of the State’s Bond and its over subscription is probably the strongest message of investor readiness that the present government could send out.

In his words: “It is the message of the local people’s belief in their own economy that attracts external investment. Simply put, charity has began from the home front and Lagos is reversing the paradigm for attracting external investment by first encouraging local investment”.

Governor Fashola who expressed his delight to be back after being held back in the United Kingdom by the Icelandic Volcanic eruption that hit the underbelly of the aviation industry, noted that the incident has shown how interconnected the world is.

In his words: “What has happened has shown how interconnected the world is. Because planes cannot land in one part of the world, there was paralysis across the globe. The Kenyan economy has been hit they cannot export flower to Europe. Dubai is reaping a boom because you can bypass Europe and get to Dubai and get to Africa. We must consider that as we take some of the benefits, there may be challenges too for us”.

He asserted that the investment objectives of the Summit has been achieved in his absence since the completion board meeting of the Bond issuance and the opening ceremony went well, adding that they are clear indications that the Lagos State Government is a team.

Earlier, while giving an insight into a summary of presentations and available investment opportunities at the Summit with the theme, Lagos: Investment Opportunities in Africa’s Emerging Model City”, a Senator representing Lagos West and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon and Managing Director of Morrison Group, Mrs Shola Popoola gave the sub themes as: Environment, Water and Sanitation, creating an effective inter-modal transport system, Housing and physical planning and meeting the energy needs of Lagos.

Others include, Public Order and Security, Human Capital Development and Financing a Model Mega City.

The duo added that part of the requirements for ensuring business environment and competitiveness of the Lagos Mega City is the encouragement of entrepreneurship which is a driver of growth and job creation as it also promotes diversity and helps in ensuring security.

Senator Solomon and Mrs Popoola added that the Summit also noted the necessity to reduce the bureaucracy and cost of securing building approvals as well as resolving any multiplicity of rates/taxes charged by the Federal, State and Local Governments as well as taking further action to solve the frequent traffic congestions which leads to downtime and limits capacity sharing/utilization. The duo also reported that the Summit recommended a control of the overbearing attitude of the officials of the regulatory bodies while streamlining their activities to avoid overlap.

It was also recommended that there should be further improvement in the security of life and property, addressing the alleged exploitative role of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency and the infrastructure gaps in power, water and waste management.

The Summit also recommended the launching of statewide interventions to develop the following high potential/priority clusters like financial services, shipping, logistics and distribution, educational services and information technology.

The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan, members of the State Executive Council, some members of the State House of Assembly, members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and investors and guests from different parts of the world.