FG Urged to Replicate Lekki Corridor Project across Nigeria

Verraki Partners, a business solutions company, has called on the federal and state governments, working in partnership with private sector stakeholders to replicate the Lekki Corridor also known as ‘New Lagos’ across other parts of Nigeria.

With deliberate government policies to attract private capital leading to huge construction projects and fast-developing real estate market, the Lekki Corridor is believed to be the fastest-growing region in Africa, attracting huge individual and institutional investments such as the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), the Dangote Oil Refinery, the Lekki Deep Seaport, International Cargo Airport, chemical and fertilizer plants, among other projects.

 Speaking at a recent Economic and Business Outlook 2020 seminar, themed ‘The Drivers of Private Investment and Outlook 2020’, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Verraki’s Managing Partner, Niyi Yusuf, said the Lekki Corridor has already attracted over $50 billion in investments, with more investments expected.

In his opinion, this would attract local and foreign manufacturers and businesses, boost the country’s exports significantly, raise employment rate and raise the nation’s industrial output.

He called for increased support for Nigerian small and medium enterprises, considering their significant contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In a comparison of private investment indicators across Africa, a benchmark of Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and Kenya, showed that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria had the largest GDP contribution in Africa at 49 per cent, trailed by South Africa at 34 per cent, Kenya at 30 per cent and Egypt at 25 per cent. Yusuf, stressed that Nigeria needed an improved enabling environment for SMEs and called for better government patronage for SMEs.

He explained that 16 per cent of South Africa’s procurement goes to SMEs while the United States of America spends 22.5per cent of all procurement on SMEs via the Small Business Administration. He, therefore, called for a deliberate policy that would channel at least 20 per cent of the federal government’s procurement towards indigenous SMEs. He said this would create access to markets for indigenous businesses and foster expansion.

In his presentation, Yusuf enumerated several key drivers of private investment globally such as monetary and fiscal policies, macro-economic conditions, effective governance, innovation capacity, taxation, credit rating, business confidence, infrastructure, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and a skilled workforce and rated Nigeria on these drivers.

He noted that the 2020 economic outlook would only be marginally different from previous years if the government embarks on needed reforms and deliberately embrace private capital.

He advised Nigerian businesses to ‘uberize non-earning assets’, diversify revenue sources, build resilience into production, adopt local sourcing and backward integration and embrace technology. He also advised businesses to remain agile and stay competitive.

The LCCI Economic and Business Outlook seminar was designed to lay out the major trends and events expected to impact the economy and commerce in Nigeria in 2020 and featured presentations by other speakers. The session had in attendance, representatives from small, medium and large enterprises and other members of the private sector.

According to Yusuf, Verraki is focused on implementing technology and business solutions designed inherently for Africa.

Credit: ThisdayLive