Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Wednesday reiterated his administrations’ resolve to make Lagos state the investors’ haven.
Ambode spoke at the Lagos House, Alausa, during a courtesy visit by President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
He said his administration was ready to support the Dangote Group, where it was necessary, to ensure that investors had comfortable lives.
“I will just call on other investors that wherever it is that we can assist, we are willing and ready to make sure that investors have comfortable life and comfortable business profile in Lagos state,” Ambode said.
The governor described the visit as very significant and promised that his administration would open up the state for greater businesses.
Ambode said that the state government was also interested in attracting foreign investors through its creation of an Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment.
“This visit is highly significant; we said it that we are going to open up Lagos State for greater business. And we also said we are interested in bringing in foreign investors and also create an Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment.
“This visit is symbolic in the sense that the bottom line is creating jobs for our youths and he (Dangote) has shown full commitment as a great Nigerian that he is interested in investing in any part of this country,” he said.
Ambode said that the government was ready to support him and his businesses because he was adding value to the state.
The governor also thanked the Dangote Group president for donating N400 million through the Dangote Foundation to 2,000 women in each of the 20 local governments in the state to improve their businesses.
In his response, Dangote said he was at the Lagos House to congratulate Ambode on his victory at the polls as well as his swearing-in as the 14th governor of the state.
He said the visit also afforded him the opportunity to assure the governor of his commitment to finish ongoing projects currently being embarked upon by his company.
Dangote said he would as well continue to support initiatives geared toward securing lives and property.
“I’ve assured the governor that we really love doing business here; it’s a friendly state for doing business. I also assure him that the projects we are doing, are on course; that is building the largest ever single refinery of 650,000 barrels per day.
“This is far more than the consumption of Nigeria and that will satisfy our consumption at least for the next seven to 10 years by the time we finish,” Dangote said.
The industrialist also said that his company was building the largest fertiliser plant of two to three million tonnes of Uranium and Amonia in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
“I also assure the governor that we are going to do a gas pipeline from Bonny to under the sea, in which when we finish, Lagos state will never ever experience blackout; there will be electricity 24 hours a day.
“There are quite a lot of things that we will come along with that will create so many jobs. I think Lagos will be one of the fastest growing cities in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.