Germany, Lagos agree to invest in power, transport, technology

 

Some German investors are having eyes on some critical sectors of the Lagos economy, such as transportation, power and technology.

Particularly in transportation, the Lagos State government is in talks with some German firms to drive the vision of changing the face of public transportation in Nigeria’s economic hub, with the injection of up to 20,000 high capacity commercial buses.

President Joachim Gauck of Germany, who was at the Lagos House, Monday, on a visit to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said apart from further strengthening Nigeria-Germany ties, his visit would enable investors from Germany explore areas of interest in the Lagos economy.

“We ought to stay in touch; we ought to be talking about coming together to further the investment climate and look at how we can invest here.

“We have great interest in the area of trade, and we in Germany are ready to share our experiences in those areas where you think they might prove helpful or necessary, and we are happy to share the experiences we have acquired in fostering security and fostering social security. We are happy to share the knowledge we have acquired in the field of science and technology and cooperate with you,” President Gauck said.

Ambode told the German leader and the business delegation that there exist investment opportunities in power, transportation, technology, and Lagos was opened for partnership to grow these sectors.

“I will like to let you know that the key areas that we are deeply interested in are power, technology and transport. We believe that we need to change the state of our transportation system in Lagos, and that is why we are quietly talking to some German companies that we want a situation where we can actually phase out some of the buses that we are using for the quality buses that come from Germany, and we are talking about buses to the volume of 10,000 to 20,000.

“Beyond that, we must also start to think about creating assembling plants and also workshop plants in Lagos to grow the economy of Germany, and at the same time grow the economy of Nigeria,” Governor Ambode told the German delegation.

Ambode said his administration was also favourably disposed to a sister-city relationship between Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, and Frankfurt, the commercial hub in Germany, in the financial service sector.

According to Ambode, Lagos being a commercial hub and the fourth largest economy in Africa, and Frankfurt, a major economic hub in Europe should explore a working relationship in terms of massive financial service that would be mutually beneficial to the two cities.

Assuring of high returns on investment in Lagos, the governor said since assuming office in May 2015, he had put in place measures to encourage foreign investment, and had invested massively to secure lives and property both of Nigerians and foreigners.

“One of the things I have tried to do quickly is to uphold the situation that there must be sanctity of law and there must be rule of law. We are strongly committed to the security and judicial sector reforms, and we believe that is the only way we can encourage investors to come and do business in Lagos,” the governor said.

He added: “I must recognise quickly the volume of German investments that we have in Lagos, and I must quickly recognise what it means to us because ultimately it is about creation of jobs for our people and where we see a situation where we have willing partners and by the demonstration of the number and quality of businessmen that you have brought in this delegation, I am assured that we would have so much to do together as we proceed.”

JOSHUA BASSEY