The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that his government has so far disbursed over N500 million to more than 40 tech startups in the State to push them to scale.
Sanwo-olu disclosed this on Wednesday in his budget speech as he presented the State’s 2024 budget to the House of Assembly. According to him, the disbursements were done through the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC).
He added that the investments in technology have birthed several innovative solutions that are being deployed to address the challenges of the state. One of such, he said was the birth of LagRide, an idea that came from a startup that took second place in the first Transportation Hackathon challenge launched by the State in 2019.
What the Governor is saying
Highlighting the efforts of his administration in the various sectors of the state’s economy, Governor Sanwo-Olu in the budget speech said:
“Through the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC), we have disbursed over half a billion naira to more than 40 innovative startups in Lagos. LagRide was birthed by a start-up that took second place in the first Transportation Hackathon challenge we launched in 2019.
“The Lagos Cowry Card, Lagos’ version of the UK’s Oyster card, usable across our BRT, Ferry, and Train services, was developed by Touch and Pay Technologies, a startup run by young entrepreneurs.”
He added that the government had also empowered more than 350 young technology entrepreneurs through the Lagos Innovates Voucher Program, which provides access to electricity, internet services, and other benefits, through partner hubs.
Startup Lagos Initiative
While Lagos is recognised as the hub of startups in Africa as it houses some of the biggest and most successful startups on the continent, the state government is making deliberate efforts to produce more successful startups through its Startup Lagos Initiative.
“Startup Lagos is our government-run Information Portal for the Startup ecosystem, serving as an Investor exchange point for Startups, as well as a source of important news events and opportunities for both investors and innovators. Currently, we have a database of more than 3,000 Startups on the Portal,” the Governor stated.
Fibre connectivity
Speaking further on the state’s investments in technology, the Governor said the government has connected more than 100 public schools, hospitals, offices, and other facilities a to fibre network through its ongoing Metro Fibre Project that seeks to deploy 6,000km of fibre-optic cabling across the metropolis.
According to him, the first Phase of the project covering 3,000km is near completion, with 2,900km deployed so far. He added that the second Phase of the project would commence in 2024.
Other technology initiatives
The Governor added that technology initiatives such as its Live Camera Update (LCU) Project, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Cameras, Command and Control Centre for the state waterways (Search and Rescue) and the Lagos Rail Mass Transit Project, have all been deployed, allowing for improved security as well as proactive and faster responses to traffic issues, and mobilization to accident scenes.
“Our Digital Cabinet Dashboard, an all-encompassing application that digitizes public data for decision-makers in Government, is at an advanced stage and has scaled through beta-testing. This data could be the number of road incidents, to hospital bed usage within General Hospitals. Allowing more robust and informed decision-making at all times,” the Governor added.
