Lekki Free Trade Zone
The Federal Government has pledged to give the Lagos State Government and local and foreign investors necessary support required to kick-start the operation of Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), an industrial cluster pioneered by the state government, before 2013.
The Federal Government has pledged to give the Lagos State Government and local and foreign investors necessary support required to kick-start the operation of Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), an industrial cluster pioneered by the state government, before 2013.
The federal government’s pledge to support as Deputy Managing Director of the Lekki Free Trade Zone Development Company (LFZDC), Mr. Adeyemo Thompson, hinted that no fewer than 64 different companies had already invested a whopping sum of $25 billion in the LFTZ.
The deputy managing director also hinted that nine new firms had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to operate in the zone, one of which he said, “is Puma energy. Over $25 billion has been brought into the zone from 64 companies which signed MoUs with the company”.
But Minister for Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, told journalists during an inspection of the on-going construction of the LFTZ in Lagos that the project “will impact positively not only on the development of Lagos State, but Nigeria as a whole”.
According to Aganga, FG was ready to work with the Lagos state government, the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and the Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZDC) to ensure that the project comes to life before the end of 2012.
He added that FG “is more interested in the technology that would be brought into the country through the zone, jobs that would be made available when the zone commences operation and the investment that will come with the free trade zone”.
The minister explained that the FG “actually wants to increase the country’s yearly earning and augment our foreign reserves. And free trade zone is one major channel to achieve these easily”.
While acknowledging imminent challenges, he added that the FG was aware of some of these challenges and had since commenced activities to ensure that these challenges are quickly addressed before the completion of the construction works at the zone.
The minister disclosed that he would be visiting Republic of China to further discuss the interest of the FTZ with the Chinese Minister of Commerce, saying out of the 19 trade zones being handled by China, the LFTZ “is the biggest of them with over 10, 000 hectares of land”.
Speaking during the inspection, Thompson, who gave a brief rundown of the project, said the project might be hampered due to some of the bottlenecks which might discourage investors to the zone.
He listed off-shore banking, power supply, unavailability of nexus of roads from the zone to other parts of the state and others as some of the challenges that need to be addressed by the Federal government, stating that nine new companies “have also signified their interest in the zone.
“These new companies have increased the number of companies who have signed Memorandum of Understanding with the LFZDC to 73. The firms are from various sectors including oil and gas, manufacturing, trading, warehousing, and shipping among others at the free trade zone”, he added.
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