USTDA commends LADOL investment in devt of logistics free zone

The United State Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), has commended the private sector investment in the development of an industrial Free Trade Zone known as the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) for the provision of logistics services to oil and gas companies.

LADOL is currently hosting the $3.8 billion oil and gas integration yard otherwise known as Egina project which has been described as first-of-its-kind in the Sub-Sahara Africa.

The Egina Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) project is being undertaken by Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for Total Oil Exploration, with LADOL acting as the local content partner.

Speaking with newsmen after the facility tour, Thom Hardy, acting director of USTDA, who led a five-man delegation to the LADOL Free Trade Zone in Apapa, Lagos on Friday, expressed delight over the massive investment in the Zone.

According to him, the American delegation was on a fact-finding mission to ascertain how businesses were carried out in Nigeria as to seek ways of encouraging American investors to invest in Nigeria.

Hardy stated that it would always take some time for outsiders to understand a country’s needs and its business modalities in order to spot out investment opportunities. “It was for this reason that the delegation visited LADOL for an on-the-spot assessment of business in the facility.

“USTDA had been a long time partner of LADOL such that we assisted it in the installation of its power plant, IT system and among others,” the US envoy stated.

Hardy expressed optimism that United States’ investors would find the zone an interesting place to invest.

Jide Jadesimi, executive director of LADOL, who conducted the visitors round the facility, commended the team for the visit, adding that USDTA has been of immense benefit to LADOL especially in its drive to build capacity.

“Given Nigeria’s huge population, if 2,000 people were trained in this facility, it would amount to a drop of water in the ocean, but when an agency like the USTDA got involved by way of partnership, the impact would be felt well.”

Jedesimi had earlier received a joint team of the Federal Government, Lagos and Oyo states governments and they indicated interest to collaborate with LADOL in training and building skills for the youths.

The team was led by Afolabi Imokhuede, senior special adviser (SSA) to the Presidency on Jobs Creation and Youths Empowerment, alongside Babatunde Durosimi-Etti, the Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment including Bc Akin-Alabi, special assistant to the Oyo State Government on Education.

Jadesimi, who lauded the teams’ used the opportunity to ask the government to intensify effort to collaborate with the private sector, in capacity-building, especially in the oil and gas sector, which according to him, offered huge opportunity for job creation.

He said that presently LADOL had created over 2,000 direct and thousands of indirect jobs. He disclosed that with the on-going FPSO facility project, LADOL would create an additional 1,500 jobs in due course.

Jadesimi explained that work on the fabrication of the FPSO Egina project was at an advanced state, assuring that the base was fully ready to see the turnkey facility to an end.

He further revealed that the multiplier effect of the fabrication project, created opportunity for some components of the Egina to be fabricated in other zones like the Snake Island.

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie