Ambode: Lagos, Africa’s 5th largest economy, will be bigger

Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, says the state will not relent despite being the fifth largest economy in Africa.

He said the state is in the process of  setting up an Economic Management Team (EMT) to boost growth. This team, he explained, will comprise distinguished individuals from the private sector and the public sector, who would manage and scale up the successes recorded in that direction.

Speaking at the Lagos House, Ikeja, when he received a delegation from the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce on courtesy visit, Ambode said the government would explore synergy with private sector, with a view to catapulting Lagos into a true global city-state in the true sense of the word.

“Very soon we will be setting up what we would refer to as an Economic Management Team to drive the fifth largest economy,” he said.

“This Economic Management Team will involve nominees from the Chambers and other people in the private sector, so that we can collaborate because this economy is mainly driven by the private sector.

“Our duty is to create an enabling environment and fuse all that together, I think that synergy can just catapult Lagos into that global city state that we want it to be.”

He said there was no doubt about the fact that the economy of Lagos was in the hand of the private sector and his government was investing massively in security to ensure an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

He said his decision to come up with the “Office of Oversees Affairs and Investment”, otherwise known as Lagos Global, was part of efforts to encourage investment in Lagos, both from within and outside the country.

“I think it is very instructive to clearly state that the economy of Lagos is in the hands of the private sector and beyond the fact that Lagos is now the fifth largest economy in Africa, the drive to take Nigeria out of recession actually resides in the private sector and willingness on the part of the public sector because our economy is in the hands of the private sector and we are willing to allow them drive it.

“That is why we have decided to formulate policies and decisions that will make the private sector to thrive in this state and that is why in the last 18 months, we have been running this administration on a tripod of security, job opportunities and infrastructure development.”

Earlier, Dapo Adelegan, leader of the delegation and president of the council, congratulated Ambode on the emergence of Lagos as the fifth largest economy in Africa, adding that with the development, it was now important to globalise the economy of Lagos.

He said the Chamber would be willing to partner with the government not only to globalise the economy of the state, but also in the area of policy formulation, among other critical sectors.

Adelegan, who lauded the various initiatives of the present administration in terms massive investment in security, job opportunities, Light Up Lagos, road projects, among others, also announced the decision of the chamber to inaugurate Ambode as one of the patrons of the chamber.

Muhammad Sanusi, emir of Kano, also lauded the Lagos state government on the management of the economy of the state, especially in this period of recession.

Sanusi, said any country that depends on a mono product commodity, like Nigeria does, is bound to fail.

He added that Nigeria and other African countries have a lot to learn from how the economy of Lagos is being run, especially before the state gained the status of oil-producing.

He urged the Ambode-led administration to run Lagos like Norway, and not allow its new oil status distract it from the very solid economic template it is currently running.