Lagos State becomes the 5th largest economy in Africa

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday expressed delight at the emergence of Lagos as the fifth largest economy in Africa, just as he said his administration is in the process of setting up an Economic Management Team comprised of distinguished individuals from the private sector and the public sector to manage and scale up the successes recorded in that direction.

Governor Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House in Ikeja when he received a delegation from the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce on courtesy visit, said the emergence of Lagos was very instructive, adding that government would explore synergy with private sector with the view to catapult Lagos into a true global city-state in the true sense of the word.

“Very soon we would be setting up what we would refer to as an Economic Management Team to drive the fifth largest economy, because that’s the way we need to envision our self and this Economic Management Team will involve nominees from the Chambers and other people in the private sector, so that we can collaborate because majorly this economy is driven by the private sector, our duty is to create an enabling environment and fuse all that together, I think that synergy can just catapult Lagos into that global city state that we want it to be,” Governor Ambode said.

The Governor said there was no doubt about the fact that the economy of Lagos was in the hand of the private sector and the willingness on the part of government to ensure an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, which according to him, was why his administration has been investing massively in security and other business incentives.

According to the Governor, his decision to come up with the Office of Oversees Affairs and Investment, otherwise known as Lagos Global, was part of efforts at encouraging investment in Lagos both from within and outside, among many other initiatives of the present administration.

He said:

“I think it is very instructive to clearly state that the economy of Lagos is in the hands of the private sector and beyond the fact that Lagos is now the fifth largest economy in Africa, the drive to take Nigeria out of recession actually resides in the private sector and willingness on the part of the public sector. 

Because our economy is in the hands of the private sector and we are willing to allow them drive it, that is why we have decided to formulate policies and decisions that will make the private sector to thrive in this State and that is why in the last 18 months, we have been running this administration on a tripod of security, job opportunities and infrastructure development.”