The Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, has urged investors in Nigeria, and all over the world to invest in the Lekki Free Zone, adding that government has also provided incentives that will encourage the ease of doing business.

He said this while addressing attendants of an investment meeting with city and bilateral Chambers of Commerce in Lagos, Ogunleye listed some of the government incentives. They include complete tax holiday from all federal, state and local government taxes, rates, customs duties and levies; one stop approval for all permits, operating in licenses and incorporation papers; duty-free, tax-free import of raw materials and components for goods destined for re-export.

He continued: “Permission to sell 100% of manufactured, assembled or imported goods into the domestic Nigerian market; 100% foreign ownership of investments; 100%repatriation of capital, profits and dividends; waiver on all import and export and export licenses; waiver on all expatriate quotas for companies operating in the zones.”

He reiterated that the Lekki Free Zone is open to all nationals and countries in the world. “I therefore urge the leadership of all chambers here present to communicate the message to all your members, local and international, that the Lekki Free Zone is an ideal investment destination for all investors all over the world.”

He added that Dangote Group is developing the South-East Quadrant of the Zone, which is about 2635 hectares of land for the establishment of 650,000bpd capacity refinery complex, petrochemical, gas and fertilizer plant with a projected cost of over $12billion.

The National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Iyalode Alaba Lawson, noted that ‘with Nigeria’s growth dropping to an average of five to six per cent in recent years, and population in Lagos increasing, development projects that can boost growth are much needed in the state. As a result, the Lekki Free Zone is important for the sustenance of over 20 million people in Lagos and its environs.

Represented by the National Vice President, Jani Ibrahim, she further said: “we are very optimistic of the capacity of the Lekki Free Zone in boosting our country’s economy through the opening of trade routes that will bring about an unprecedented surge in logistics and businesses.”

published on the guardian newspaper