Lagos Deepens Ease of Doing Business

By Dipo Olowookere

As part of preparations for the Lagos@50 celebrations, the state government has reiterated its commitment to further enhance the ease of doing business in the State through its one-stop-shop (Lagos Global) so as to attract more Foreign Direct Investments as well as increase the its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the position of the second largest economy in Africa.

Speaking on the activities of Lagos Global, the Special Adviser, Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass, expressed the State Governments’ desire to make Lagos the most desirable investment destination in the world through ever increasing ease of doing business which investors are forever seeking.

Going further on the State’s readiness to improve the ease of doing business, the Special Adviser listed World Bank’s index of measuring ease of doing business in the ranking of nations to include ease of starting a business, obtaining construction permits, property registration, tax payment, trading across borders, getting credits and enforcing contracts.

According to Prof Abass, “Governor Akinwumi Ambode has again reaffirmed his commitment at ensuring that Lagos becomes the destination of choice as far as investment is concerned. A number of reforms have been instituted to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and for investors, both local and foreign, to realise that the business environment has been greatly enhanced and therefore conducive for businesses to prosper.”

“The various efforts being made by the government are all geared towards enhancing the ease of doing business in the State. Some of these reforms include but not limited to tax reforms, ease of permits application processes, improved land registration system, quicker proposal processing and so many others. These are areas where investors had setbacks in the past that brought about discouragement leading to a reduced presence of investments in the State”, he stated.

Prof Abass further stated that when all of these policies were successfully implemented in Lagos, the State being the commercial hub of Nigeria by its very act will not only attain its mega city status with increased GDP, Nigeria as a whole, stands to benefit with an improved chance to attract more foreign direct investments.

In his words, “To maintain its mega city status, Lagos State now seeks to conduct business in a 21st-century manner, operate seamlessly without the usual bureaucratic bottlenecks that characterized the doing of business in the past”, leading to great discouragement of investors.

“Investment opportunities abound in Lagos, and since it is a known fact that investment thrives best in an environment that is safe and secure, where there are legal and judicial systems to support their interest, Lagos State is poised to engender an enabling environment to ensure a more prosperous Lagos”.