Press Releases

Fashola Takes Campaign For Foreign Investment Partnerships To France
…Speaks to French business community, visits Senate

Dec 17, 2009 - It was a day of exciting prospects for Lagos on Thursday in far away Paris, France as Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), met with the cream of the French business community to further strengthen the State’s drive for investment partnerships.

The day started at the corporate headquarters of the French prime club of investors, the Mouvement Des Enterprises De France (MEDEF) where Governor Fashola was received by Director-General, Mr Thierry Coutaigne , the Deputy Chairman of the France-Nigeria Senate Friendship Group, Senator Charles Revet and the Consul-General of the French Consulate General in Lagos, Mr Jean-Luc Bodin among other top officials of MEDEF for his breakfast meeting presentation on Investment Opportunities in Lagos with emphasis on Public Private Partnerships.

On the entourage of the Governor were renowned business man and chairman of the French concern CFAO, Chief Molade Okoya Thomas, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Supo Sasore (SAN), his lnformation and Strategy counterpart, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, the Special Adviser on Commerce and Industry, Mrs Sola Oworu and the Special Adviser for Executive-Legislative Bureau, Hon. Abdul Lateef Abdul Hakeem with the Ambassador of Nigeria to France, Ambassador Gordon Harry Bristol also in attendance.

Making his presentation, Governor Fashola noted that the path the administration chose in order to realize the vision of transforming Lagos into Africa’s model mega city is to make life livable for the people through the aggressive provision of infrastructure to reduce a huge infrastructure deficit , that had made life difficult for them.

The Government, Governor Fashola said, has made tremendous progress in some of the key initiatives it has taken since inception such as the continuation of the Lekki-Epe Expressway which is the first PPP road infrastructure project in West Africa, road rehabilitation and construction, Security Trust Fund which involves equipping the Rapid Response Squad and which has led to a significant reduction in crime rate in the State and the establishment of a local transformer manufacturing facility to serve current and expected market demand as well as the development of a Power Master-plan.

Other sectors where the administration has recorded significant success include the area of Transportation with the conclusion of the Bus Rapid Transit which has become a continental model and ferry services, the Environment with efficient waste management as a result of several PPP initiatives, drainage and beautification, and Urban Planning, renewal and expansion which includes the development of Regional Master-plans and the proposed Eko Atlantic City project. All the aforementioned projects are PPP initiatives, he said.

However, towards realizing the vision of transforming Lagos into Africa’s model mega city, Governor Fashola underscored the role of the private sector and took time to explain the concept and philosophy behind his administration’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative while also outlining some of the investment opportunities that make Lagos an investor’s haven.

The Governor told his audience that the vision is being financed through debt issuance programme, multilateral agency partnerships and internal generated revenue which is an average of N14 Billion monthly and the main force driving rapid development in Lagos being the PPP initiative which, according to him, accounts for a sizeable portion of both on-going and planned projects in the State.

The Governor said Lagos is naturally poised for foreign investments because it is not only the largest market in West Africa but also the home of more than 250 financial institutions and 10,000 of Nigeria’s commercial concerns.

Lagos, Governor Fashola declared, is already strategically poised as the investors’ destination of choice because “it attracts 70 percent of Nigeria’s commercial activities, it accounts for 60 percent of Nigeria’s total industrial investments, foreign trade and VAT revenue; West Africa’s largest and busiest airport, the Murtala Mohammed Airport, is in Lagos; it has two of West Africa’s major seaports and it is the only state in Nigeria that funds 60 percent of its monthly budget via Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)”.

Governor Fashola listed Power, Infrastructure, Transportation, Tourism and Housing as some of the major sectors where investment opportunities exist in the State adding that the Government has provided an enabling environment to protect investors.

The Governor also highlighted the on-going phased development of the Lekki Free Trade Zone where investment opportunities exist in the proposed Lekki Airport, Deep sea multi-purpose port within the Free Zone, Light industrial and manufacturing, Petrochemicals plants and Oil refineries, Housing and Power Supply.

On Power, Governor Fashola explained that while total power demand of the State stands at about 12, 000 mega-watts, current supply is below 2, 000 mega-watts pointing out that investors are also required in the area of rehabilitation, generation and distribution of power as well as supply and operation of the Billing system.

He disclosed that there is a demand gap of 332 million gallons of water per day in the State adding that opportunities exist also in the construction and management of water plants, water distribution and bulk metering of 31 zones and water works.

In the Transportation sector, Governor Fashola asked the French investors to take advantage of the State’s proposed seven rail network lines consisting of 27 kilometre Blue Line and 31 kilometre Red Line which will run around the city as well as the building and operation of Station Parking adding that the Government had taken a lead to show the viability of the lines by opting to build two of them.

Also waiting for investors in this sector, according to the Governor, are opportunities in water transportation such as jetty construction and management, operator services and ferries, while in the Tourism Sector the developments along 180 kilometres of Atlantic Coastline, Tourism city, hotels and beach resorts offer attractive investment opportunities.

The Governor noted that in the area of housing, investors will have the opportunity of a ready market due to the high demand for housing in which no less than 40, 000 housing units will be required annually requiring therefore the construction of low and middle income housing estates with the State providing land and Equity as well as facilitating the provision of mortgages.

To show that the State Government is ready to provide the requisite enabling environment for investments to thrive, Governor Fashola, enumerated the enactment of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law, the provision of an Institutional framework for PPP through the PPP Committee and PPP Office, as practical steps towards creating an enabling environment to ensure security of investments as well as returns on investment.

Other steps taken to guarantee a conducive investment environment, he said, include direct financial investment in projects by the Government, provision of Tax benefits, the inauguration of the Lagos Arbitration Centre and the readiness to provide necessary Government guarantees.

The Governor, who also listed some of the French concerns which are already in existence in Nigeria, said Nigeria attracts the highest level of French FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa while the country is France’s largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa with French exports to the country growing by 29 percent in the first half of this year.

Governor Fashola noted that Lagos has a practical testimonial to show for its strategic position as 60 percent of the over 120 French companies in Nigeria are based in Lagos with many of them, such as Total, Technip, Saipem, Larfarge among others dominating the Oil and Gas sector while others provide services within the industrial infrastructure, electricity and Telecommunications trading sectors.

Governor Fashola said as a sign of growing confidence in Lagos, there has been Multilateral Donor Partnerships in which the World Bank; DFID, and other allied agencies have committed support for Lagos.

The well received presentation by Governor Fashola engendered numerous positive enquiries from the audience comprising investors, representatives of multi-national corporations, investment consultants and senior officials of the French Parliament and Government.

The Governor later had a close door meeting with some of the investors who wanted to make further detailed enquiries before leaving with his entourage to keep an appointment with the French Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa at the Luxembourg Palace.

At the Senate, Governor Fashola was received by the Deputy Chairman of the France–Nigeria Senate Friendship Group, Senator Charles Revet and had a meeting with the Group’s members including the Vice-President of the Senate Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, Senator Serge Lagauche with the Deputy Chairman of the Senate France-Mauritania Friendship Group in attendance.

While welcoming Governor Fashola and his entourage to the Senate, Senator Revet congratulated the Governor for his presentation at MEDEF which he was privileged to witness and also thanked him for the warm hospitality extended to members of his Group when they visited Lagos in September. He noted that though members of the Senate are not investors, they could facilitate the interface between Lagos and the French investors.

Responding, Governor Fashola thanked the Senator and MEDEF Members for the warm hospitality extended to his entourage noting that the visit has helped in exploding many myths about the French people. He said he was particularly impressed by the openness and enthusiasm of his French hosts who appear untiring.

Governor Fashola said though he was aware that the Senators are not investors they, as lawmakers, play a major role in taking decisions that will determine whether investments will come or not. According to the Governor, some of the achievements of his administration in the past two and a half years would not have been possible without a proactive Lagos State House of Assembly making pro-active laws to back initiatives like the Lagos State Security Trust Fund and the Public Private Partnerships among several others.

The Governor and his entourage was later taken on a guided tour of the historically significant Luxembourg Palace before being ushered into the Senate Chambers to witness part of the day’s proceedings which ended with an announcement of Governor Fashola’s presence greeted by a standing ovation from the Senators and all present.