It has been revealed that the adding value Lagos State has been receiving from the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit over the years by successive governments has made the state maintains its status as the strong economic nerve centre of Nigeria and one of the fast-growing emerging megacities of the world.
This was revealed on Thursday during the pre-summit stakeholders’ engagement organised by the state government ahead of the 2022 Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit which holds on 11 and 12 October 2022. From 2000, when the first edition of the Summit was held till date, the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit has generated no fewer than 222 impacted Resolutions.
While announcing that 95 per cent of the Resolutions emanating from the Summit has been fully implemented with visible results seeing in the development of the state, the Co-Chairman, Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit and Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos State, Samuel Egube, told the pre-summit stakeholders’ meeting held at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island on Thursday that “the adding value include making Lagos the 6th largest economy in Africa with the private sector taking the lead and the beauty of this is that Lagos is leading Nigeria into Africa’s modern market.”
Egube, a pastor, engineer and season economist told the gathering that included diplomats and captains of the industry, that the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit has become a reference point in Nigeria, adding that the activities around the Summit have helped shaped the future of Lagos through impactful public discuss.
“The results we are seeing today is that Lagos has become a centre for trade and the largest food basket in Africa. The Summit has become a melting point where the conversation for the future of Lagos and by extension Nigeria is being made. This year, we are celebrating 22 years in the making of a flagship of gathering to discuss the future of Lagos, and whatever happens in Lagos affects Nigeria,” he said.
Egube revealed that during the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit which holds in October, the state government will launch another milestone to take Lagos to the next level of development.
“While we will use this year’s Ehingbeti Summit to celebrate Lagos as a planning city and a national asset, we are also launching the Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP) 2022-2052. This is a 30-year long-term plan to further make Lagos Africa’s modest megacity, a global economic and financial hub that is safe, secure, functional and productive.
According to the Senior Principal, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Mr. Olayinla Majekodunmi, the LSDP 2022-2052 is designed to make Lagos not just a city, but a city with a global comparison with notable African cities such as Johannesburg in South Africa.
He said the LSDP is formed with inputs from experts, citizen engagements, global benchmarks, ministries, MDAs and other stakeholders, which included the Federal Government, adding that the 30-year plan will be conducted in five phases structured along four strategic dimensions which include making Lagos a Thriving Economy, a Human-centric city, a city with Modern Infrastructures and Effective Governance.
Majekodunmi revealed that the funding of the 2022-2052 Development Plan has been carefully mapped out, and this would be realized through the gains and diversified Internally Generated Revenue and investment attractions to the state.
To make the success out of the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit solidified and the 30-year LSDP realisable, Co-chair, Technical Committee, Ms Solape Hammond, who is also the Special Adviser on SDGs and Investment to the state Governor, called for the support of the private sector and the citizens of the state, even as she reiterated the importance of the stakeholder engagement which she noted is meant to ensure that Lagos is secured now and the future.
Speaking on behalf of the diplomatic community, Arie Plieger, acting head of mission/head economic department, Kingdom of the Netherlands, could not but commend the Government of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu for putting in place a cabinet of ‘constructive professionals’, adding that he sees the government working unrelentingly with great vision to make life better for the people of Lagos State.
The Ambassador assures robust relationship of The Netherlands Government with the Lagos State government to work together to achieve the lofty programmes in the LSDP and the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit, while Amarakoon Bandara, a senior economic advisor at the United Nations Development Programme assured that the UNDP would do all within its power to support Lagos in achieving its target objectives in the LSDP.
Asiwaju Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, the 24th President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said that all hands must be on deck to ensure that all Resolutions generated from the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit should henceforth be fully executed, warning that Lagos must not go down, else Nigeria goes down.
“We should remember that there is undue pressure on Lagos and Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit is a good platform to solve many problems and chart new levels for the state. I want to say that the Lagos State Development Plan 2022-2052 is a good initiative which must be inclusive of our young people because the Plan will be actively driven by our young brains who we must begin to carry along in whatever we are doing now,” Olawale-Cole said.