The Lagos State Government has assured about 40 foreign investors desirous of? investing in the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) and industrial parks of a secured investment in the state, saying the government has put in place, the legal and regulatory framework to make public-private partnership thrive in the state.
The special adviser/director general (DG) office of Public-Private Partnerships, Lagos State, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi gave the assurance during an interactive session with a Japanese trade mission to the state.
According to Gbeleyi, investment opportunities abound in the development of independent power plants in industrial clusters, such as the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Matori Industrial Estate, Shomolu Printing Community, Ilupeju Industrial Estate and Ikorodu Industrial Estate.
The PPP operations director assured the prospective investors of secured and profitable returns on their investments in the state, adding that the state which requires infrastructure investment of approximately $50billion has looked beyond internally generated revenue, debt issuance programme and multilateral financing to public-private partnership as a public finance instrument of bridging infrastructural gap in the state.
He said the state was gradually broadening the PPP market in the country, with successful projects such as the Bus Rapid Transit, Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Road Concession, Independent Power projects, shopping malls and urban markets, as well as the management and maintenance of a number of health facilities.
Gbeleyi added that construction work is rapidly progressing on 27km Blue Line (from Okokomaiko to Marina), with construction works on the first phase from National Theatre to Mile 2 rapidly progressing, while the contract for the construction of the second phase from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko has been awarded to Construction and Civil Engineering Corporation of China (CCECC).
He assured that the project will considerably ease traffic congestion in the Lagos metropolis when fully on-stream, as an average of 400,000 passengers would be conveyed daily with the project expected to generate over 8,000 jobs through direct and indirect employment opportunities.
The special adviser further revealed that negotiation was equally ongoing with preferred bidder on the development of a 32 km Light Rail Metro Transportation (Red Line) from Agbado to Marina.
He said the contract will include the provision of rolling stocks as well as the operation and maintenance of the line when commercial closure is eventually attained.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu urged the Japanese investors to take advantage of the various incentives such as tax holiday, 100% foreign ownership and repatriation, as well as waivers on all import and export licenses, to invest in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
She said investment opportunities are also available in oil and gas, light and medium scale industries, hospitality and resort, engineering and infrastructure support services, commerce, retail as well as real estate, among others.
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