Badagry infrastructure: Lagos offers incentives to would-be investors
Lagos State has offered to give attractive incentives to investors willing to partner government to jointly deliver lot three and final phase of the ongoing expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The lot three of the project starts from Okokomaiko and terminates at the Nigerian-Benin Republic border at Seme. Work on lot one of the multi-billion naira project, starting from Eric Moore end of the Iganmu Bridge to Mile 2, is almost completed, except for the flyover at Alaba-Suru, while lot two, which starts from Mile 2 to Okoko is receiving attention.
The project, started by the state government since 2008, entails expanding the road from four to 10 lanes with streetlights and other safety furniture. Running in the middle of the road will be Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and light rail system.
Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, who made the offer during a meeting with the business community, last week, said part of the incentives to be negotiated through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement might be land along the Badagry corridor for real estate development.
Ambode explained that the goal was to fully develop and open up that axis, a strategic measure to keep millions of people in the semi-rural environs economically engaged thereby decongesting the city centre. He said the road expansion and other viable projects being sited in Badagry, including the deep seaport proposed for that area were tools to achieving the goal.
The governor told the business community that the PPP Office had been reactivated and position to liaise and work out an arrangement that would be mutually beneficial to government and willing investor in the project.
On other measures to encourage ease of doing business in Lagos, he said the state government has approved business clinic for the Micro and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) while N10 billion has so far been released to the Lagos Employment Trust Fund (ETF) to offer credit to MSMEs) at 5 percent per annum with the sole aim of further growing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state.
Solomon Aderoju, chairman, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Lagos State chapter, commended the various initiatives of the state such as infrastructural renewal, investment in security, traffic management, light-up Lagos project, among others, saying they were important enablers to the private sector.