As preparation for Ehingbeti, the Lagos Economic Summit holding on February 16 -18, 2021 intensifies, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) has re-affirmed commitment to continued deployment of the platform as a channel for setting developmental agenda for Lagos State.
Ehingbeti 2021 will provide a robust platform for deliberations on pragmatic optimization of the inherent opportunities in Africa’s 5th largest economy and offer perspectives on how to manage the peculiar socio-economic landscape of the State in the coming decade. The three-day summit, which will be a hybrid of virtual and live events, will draw participation from various sectors of the economy and across the globe.
Recently at a stakeholders’ conference, where key private sector operators in Nigeria gathered for the upcoming Lagos Economic Summit, Ehingbeti, the organised private sector (OPS) stressed the need for government to focus on infrastructural development, job creation, waste management and social issues.
Other areas listed for government’s consideration by the OPS are investment in technology and innovation, security, while government was also advised to enable the large population of entrepreneurial youth domiciled in the state to take advantage of their skills and talents.
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“The government should match manpower development with available needs to create room for employment” said Francis Meshioye, Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ikeja branch at the Stakeholders’ Conference.
He said “there are many companies domiciled in Lagos, and that if the growth of industrialists is eroded, it will affect the economy and gross domestic product of the country at large”.
“Lagos needs more industrial clusters to become the desired economic hub, adding that government should create viable links to channel goods from one cluster to another” concluded Meshioye.
Earlier, the Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni, said attention needs to be focused on municipal solid waste.
Olukanni, who expressed support for the summit, said Lagos State was still struggling with issues of waste management, which if not tackled could become a disaster. According to him, there is a national policy on waste management, waste to energy, and wealth, which should be one of the studies at the summit.
With some of the issues for discussion listed, speakers from across the globe are ready to share useful insights and speak candidly to the issues that will advance socio-economic development of Lagos State. Speakers that will grace the 3-day conference include Helen Grant, UK Trade Envoy to Nigeria, Jordi Borrut Bel, managing director, Nigerian Breweries, Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Yemi Candide-Johnson, SAN, Strachan Partners and other notable private sector leaders.
