Lagos needs N7tr to boost infrastructure, other amenities – Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said on Friday state requires at least N7 trillion to meet infrastructural and basic needs in 2024.

The governor stated this during the Eighth Lagos Corporate Assembly, a business forum, tagged: ”Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Meets with Community (BOS Meets with Business Community),” held at the Lagos House, Ikeja.

He said the government was ready to improve the ease of doing business in the state despite the current global business challenges.

Sanwo-Olu said: “The demands from the report gathered from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) show that if we have the resources, at least N7 trillion will be needed for the year 2024 budget to meet the state’s infrastructural challenges and other basic amenities.

“Though we are proposing over N2 trillion budget size for the year 2024 to be presented to the state House of Assembly soon, and we are having a demand of N7 trillion. Our revenue is far from it.

“That’s one of the challenges we are having presently. We want to fix roads and do it rightly.

READ ALSO: ‘Lagos has nothing to hide,’ Sanwo-Olu speaks on procurement controversy

“We need to scale up with modern technology and put in place enduring policies. We didn’t anticipate the current inflationary rate. Our focus is on how to meet the demands of our people amidst the speculative market.

“We are where we are today and if we don’t get it right here, it will have dire consequences for our country. We can have handshakes with the Federal Government. Mr. President in recent times has embarked on trips abroad to canvass investors to open up Nigeria’s economy as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“We can’t give excuses, we need to work together. We are running against time. I have a political timeline I am working with. We can’t afford to fail.”

He pointed out that the government and the business community must work together and identify the way forward, to be able to solve challenges through ideas and submissions.

“We must let the MSMEs breathe for sustainable economy, through friendly policies,” the governor added.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperative, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said the corporate assembly had been a very important public–private sectors engagement platform in the state.

She said through the corporate assembly, the state government and the business community interact and discuss issues that were crucial to the state’s industrial and commercial growth.

She assured that all issues raised at the last edition had been addressed adequately by various MDAs relevant to improving the business environment in the state.

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