African leaders have been urged to leverage on the continent’s huge population and endowments towards launching it into in mainstream global economy.
Governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode made the submission at the second edition of German-African Business Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, saying with a population of over 1.2 billion people and rich natural endowments, “Africa has all it takes to play in the mainstream global economy.
“Ironically, despite her abundant human and material resources, the continent is still being assessed based on her potential rather than actual contribution to the global economy.”
According to Ambode, such ought not to be the case considering the abundance of indices of greatness in the continent.
He said “the 21st century therefore presents another opportunity for us to develop lasting solutions to our challenges and join the mainstream of the global economy by leveraging on our competitive advantage,” adding that back in Lagos, effort is being made to make the continent great.
“As Africa’s model mega city, Lagos is strategically positioned to play a leading role in propelling development on the continent. As a result of the growing investors’ confidence, the state is fast becoming a preferred destination for investors in Africa.”
He said state would be willing to partner with investors within and outside Africa, noting that measures have been put in place to enhance the ease of doing business within Lagos.
Giving statistics about state, the governor said apart from being the 5th largest economy and fastest growing city in Africa with a population of over 22 million people comprising overwhelming proportion of middle class income earners, Lagos is also the contributor of 30 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the leading contributor to the non-oil sector GDP.
“Lagos accounts for over 60 percent of the country’s industrial and commercial activities; over 70 percent of national maritime cargo freight; over 80 percent of international aviation traffic, and over 50 percent of Nigeria’s energy consumption.
“Also, Lagos is the nexus of Nigeria’s section of Trans-African Highway which is being boosted by our enormous investment on the expansion of the Lagos Badagry Expressway, the primary ECOWAS highway, into 10-Lanes with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the first light rail metro transit in West Africa.
“With these and the State’s 180km Atlantic waterfront criss-crossed by maze of creeks and lagoons, Lagos is an investment and tourist delight,” he said.
He said policy objectives of his administration were based on a tripod of security, infrastructural development and job creation, saying that such was further driven by desire to build a sustainable economy that is minimally dependent on federal allocation, but a private sector driven economy through local and foreign direct investment.
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