…Targets $150m central food hub to reduce waste by 50%
…seeks $26m to establish advanced cancer, diagnostic institute
The Lagos State government is targeting electric-powered ferries from a €410m World Bank-backed Omi Eko water project.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State governor, made this known at an Investors’ Roundtable on Wednesday in Lagos while briefing investors and stakeholders on the success of the project.
“We are starting a project with the World Bank called Omi Eko. It’s about €400 million in which we will be buying a lot more electric-driven ferries. We are building a lot more terminals and jetties and the private sector can come in and partner with us,” he said.
The Omi Eko transport project, an initiative of the Lagos State Government under the Lagos State Climate Action Plan 2020-2025 to decarbonise public transportation, received funding in December 2023 at the 28th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP28) held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Investments for the inland waterways project will be financed by a French Development Agency (AFD) loan of €130 million, an European Investment Bank (EIB) loan of €170 million, a €60 million grant from the European Union, and the remainder by the Lagos State government.
The project is expected to achieve a significant carbon reduction of approximately 41,000 tCO2 per year.
Besides carbon reduction, the governor stressed that the project could take the pressure off Lagos’ congested roads by providing a viable and faster alternative for commuting.
“We need to take 20-25 percent of our people using the waterways. From here to Ikorodu will take you an hour and a half. If you go by waterways, in 45 minutes you are in any part of Ikorodu. So, there’s no better means in terms of doing it than for us to do our water corridor.”
The Omi Eko project is expected to be implemented between 2024 and 2030 and includes construction work on 25 ferry terminals. The governor informed investors that an additional 15 ferries have been secured.
The state also has a plan on food security. Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State commissioner of agriculture, represented by Rotimi Fashola, special adviser to the state governor on agriculture, said the proposed state’s central logistic food hub is designed to be the central point for food aggregation, storage and preservation, logistics and distribution in the mega city.
“It’s a five-year project that is going to cost about $150 million. It’s a place where food wastage will be reduced by 50 percent,” Olusanya said.
He noted that the central logistic food hub will create over 16,000 jobs directly and indirectly.
“To organise our market, we need to have an organised system and that is why we are looking at the hub. We have the central logistic hub where we have an organised market system that sits on 200-hectare land,” he noted.
He said food prices in the central hub will be regulated to achieve stability and prevent hikes on food items.
He also said the logistic food hub construction, which began in 2022, is projected to be completed by 2026. He urged investors to put their money in the state’s goal of attaining food sustainability.
Titilayo Oshodi, special adviser on climate change and circular economy, said Nigeria’s mega city plan aims to address challenges around climate change through the circular economy.
According to her, Lagos’ resource lies in the waste that it generates, noting that Lagos State plans to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 18 of the United Nations climate.
“Through our initiative (Leave No One Behind), we plan to achieve clean air, clean energy and we also want to tackle waste management,” Oshodi said.
Also, the Lagos State government is seeking a $26 million investment to establish a comprehensive cancer and diagnostic institute and an advanced laboratory system serving all healthcare tiers across the state.
Akin Abayomi, state commissioner for Health, said at the event that the government is open to financing through debt, grants, equity, or angel investment in its quest to ramp up capacity and provide specialised health services.
He revealed that the total project cost is estimated at $46 million, noting that the state has already secured $20 million through private-sector partnerships, leaving a $26 million gap.
“We are looking to develop the first state comprehensive oncology center that will give the whole compendium of cancer treatments that were sought out of the country and we can reduce those huge waiting lines in the oncology clinics that exist in Lagos. It is a very viable project and it will pay itself back in year seven with multiple opportunities and a fortune project,” Abayomi said.
On track to become the third centre for advanced oncology care in Lagos, the comprehensive cancer institute could tackle the growing number of cancer patients and potentially create a competitive environment that lowers the cost of cancer treatments.
Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s recommendation on the availability of cancer facilities, Abayomi said Lagos State should have 11 of such facilities.
However, only two advanced cancer centres are available in the state currently: the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, Idi-Araba, Mushin, and the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre and Specialist Hospital, Victoria Island.
Addressing plans to establish a tiered medical laboratory system in the state, Abayomi said the goal is to create a cluster of systems where groups of original equipment manufacturers can provide their service providers across the chain of facilities in Lagos.
Under the tiered laboratory system, the complexity of medical investigations increases as you move up the tiers: primary, secondary, and tertiary health facilities, the commissioner explained.
