12th April, 2017
Lagos State government has reiterated its desire to further enhance the ease of doing business so as to attract more investments even as the state celebrates its fifty years of existence.
Professor Ademola Abass, Special Adviser, Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment, Lagos Global, stated this at a media chat held in Alausa recently in preparation for the Lagos @ 50 celebrations.
Abass expressed Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s desired to make Lagos the most desirable investment destination in the world through the ease of doing business that every investor looked out for to stimulate their interest to invest.
The Special Adviser said the index of the ease of doing business ranking of nations, according to World Bank included ease of starting a business, obtaining construction permits, property registration, tax payment, trading across borders, getting credits and enforcing contracts.
He said, “the governor 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.
“A major part of the effort of government to enhance the ease of doing business is the creation of the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment as a one-stop shop for investors to reduce the stress involved with multi-agency handling of investment issues; the office centralises the processing of investment proposals to fast-track the process to enhance business turn-around time.”
Abass further said all these were done in the hope that, if Lagos State, being the commercial hub of Nigeria got its acts together in this regards, then Nigeria as a whole stood a better chance to attract more 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 bottle necks that characterized the doing of business in the past that had led to great discouragement on the part 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.”