Sanwo-Olu: Tech, financial services are key areas for foreign investments in Lagos

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, says the key areas for investment in the state are tech, communications, financial services, creative, and consumer products.

The governor said this during an interview on Sky News on Friday.

He said the tech industry is very important in the state.

“For the past 3 to 4 years, Lagos has remained the tech startup capital in Africa so there’s still a lot of depth that we need to bring into that space,” he said. 

Sanwo-Olu said there are a lot of financial products that need to be deepened. 

“So we want to see a lot more international financial organisations come into Lagos,” he said. 

“We want the creative industry to also have a play in our economy — then of course the general consumer products.

“Because of the population we have, we believe anything, indeed, could have a market, you could have your own share of the market — petrochemicals, consumer products.

“Any of those three to four areas will indeed do very well in Lagos.”

Speaking on the establishment of the Lagos international financial council, he said the rationale was to expose Lagos to the international community.

“The whole idea is for us to be able to let the world – starting with London because we’ve got a lot of history with the city of London– to get them to know what is happening in Lagos,” he said.

“But the council will set up strategies where we can hand-hold companies; British companies and foreign direct investors that want to come into Lagos.

“Let know what the red tapes are. What are the things that they want us to do — regulatory framework, legal framework? What kind of permits do they need? What kind of approvals do they need?”

Sanwo-Olu said the council will set up structures where communication and collaboration would happen.