Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has promised to work with the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited (InfraCo), relevant federal and state government agencies, as well as the private sector, to develop road infrastructure in the Lagos Free Zone to support the growing industrial activities along the Lekki-Epe axis.
He explained that this was necessary due to the expansion of industries in and around the Free Trade Zone, particularly Dangote Refineries and Tolaram Group, which have attracted economic activity and created heavy traffic.
Emefiele made the remarks during a tour of Tolaram Group’s industries in the Lagos Free Zone, which occupy 850,000 acres of land and have a $2.1 billion industrial investment.
With the active collaboration of the federal and state governments, he claims that InfraCo will decongest the environs of the Lagos Free Zone by assisting with road construction.
He specifically stated that the establishment of the Lagos Free Zone will aid in the alleviation of the Apapa-Tincan Island port congestion.
Emefiele also stated that the apex bank would work with the federal and state governments to determine how InfraCo could ensure cargo evacuation from the port area, which he described as a major problem.
He claimed that the CBN had raised about N23 billion to fund road infrastructure so that cargo could be evacuated smoothly from the port.
“The whole idea is that with this Lagos Free Zone Port, we should be able to see a complete decongestion of Apapa and Tin Can Island Port simply by diverting traffic away from Apapa.”
“We also fear that the situation will worsen with the single road we have, which is the Lagos-Epe-Lekki road, which is already congested with traffic, even with Dangote Refinery.” Yes, it’s something we’re seeing, and I’m here today because I’ve been to Dangote Refinery several times and know how long it takes to drive there by road.
“What I’m trying to say is that we’ve identified the issue.” Fortunately, InfraCo is chaired by the CBN; the InfraCo board has been formally constituted; InfraCo has a CEO; and I will be calling on InfraCo to begin the engagement as soon as we leave this meeting. I’ll also be working with the Lagos state government and the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Works to see what can be done about evacuating out of Lagos, as well as how we can decongest traffic for those who live near this axis.
“I want to reassure you that this is something that will be addressed.” “This would be the middle of a long-term strategy,” he explained.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) urged entrepreneurs and business owners to take advantage of the apex bank’s various interventions, saying that the CBN was keen on promoting industrialisation through long-term single-digit loans.
“For any entrepreneur wishing to do business in Nigeria, we will provide both Naira and dollar funding, and I will always advise against taking out dollar loans, especially if your revenue stream is in naira.” Take out low-cost Naira loans with low-interest rates and a two-year grace period. I doubt you’d ever come across something like this again. I always encourage people to take advantage of it because it is available, especially since we want to drive industrialisation in Nigeria and resurrect the manufacturing sector.
“We would support not only the Tolaram Group, the Dangote Group, or the BUAs; we would give you all the support you need if you mean well and want to do business in Nigeria,” he explained.
The Tolaram Group, according to Emefiele, has made immediate plans to evacuate their products through the port to Ikorodu, Festac, and Warri via trucks, which will not cause road congestion for the time being. Road expansion, he claims, is a much-needed investment that will also help with exports.
“We are pleased that this port infrastructure has arrived; it will address our problem of ease of doing business,” he said. One of our issues with ease of doing business, or in this case, ease of export, is that when Nigerians want to export, they can do so through the Lagos Tin Can or Lagos Apapa ports. People prefer to transport their products and goods by road to neighboring countries and then ship them out of those countries, implying that Nigeria loses the benefit of being referred to as “exported from Nigeria.”
“I believe with this port, and we will be engaging them, I’m glad the Customs and the Nigerian Ports Authority are involved; we would also seek to work with the Lagos Free Zone by having a dedicated export desk that would make it easier for goods to be exported out of this port.” That is a very important issue that we must address because, again, in a selfish manner, we require foreign exchange. We earn foreign exchange if we export, and I’m going to start working with them to ensure that the Lagos Free Zone is designated as an export zone,” he added.
“Certainly, over N100 billion has gone from CBN intervention under CRR or through agriculture credit route to the Tolaram Group,” Emefiele said when asked how much the CBN has helped the group. Remember that this project costs around $2 billion, or about N1 trillion, and N100 billion is only 10% of that. As a result, we’ve also planted a seed. At least N1 trillion has been invested in this project, and we have contributed about N100 billion, or about 10%,” he said.
The CBN governor also stated that the bank would do everything possible to make the environment conducive to the growth of companies and businesses.
“So, we’re looking into how we can ensure that the policy regulations are reviewed; we have concerns about how free trade zones operate in terms of tax exemptions, duty free exemptions, and other things.”
“We’d like to collaborate with you to see how we can establish a clear line of demarcation between companies that operate as free trade zones or in free trade zones and those that will not.”
“However, a company may want to operate as a free trade zone while also operating in the opposite direction. As a result, we need to define how this will work so that revenue is not lost,” he said.
