Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been invited to pitch to over 100 British businesses, including policy makers, to generate foreign investment.
A statement on Sunday said the governor, as a keynote speaker, would present business opportunities in Nigeria and the significance of investing in Lagos at a virtual event organised by the United Kingdom’s Institute of Directors (IoD).
According to the statement, Sanwo-Olu will be the first elected black leader to address the United Kingdom Institute of Directors in its over 100 years of existence.
“As a state contributing about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s $410bn GDP and housing over 10 per cent of the country’s 220 million population, Lagos is evidently a fertile ground for investment and big market for commerce,” the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Samuel Egube, said in the statement.
The IoD Branch Manager for Yorkshire and North East, Helena Drake, was quoted as saying over 100 large British businesses had registered to participate in the virtual investment forum, slated for Monday (today).
Drake noted that the IoD was committed to facilitating business relations and investment openings for its members in any part of the world.
Nigeria is a major investment and trade destination for Britain following its exit from the European Union and the British government’s £37bn to boost trade expansion in Africa, where Nigeria is the biggest economy, and Lagos, the 6th largest economy with its 40% contribution to the national GDP of $410bn, which is bigger than that of 20 African countries.