Kemi Badenoch, the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Business and Trade, paid a visit to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday, at Lagos House, Marina.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Gboyega Akosile, Governor Sanwo-Olu implored foreign investors, particularly the business community in the UK, to consider Lagos as a destination of choice for their investments.
Sanwo-Olu said his administration would continue to make Lagos a destination of choice by ensuring a friendly business environment for investors, stressing the need for improved trading activities to improve Nigeria’s economy.
He said: “For us, we see a whole lot of opportunities that Lagos can be for our country while also identifying and managing the challenges that we need to deal with on a continuous basis.
“We will continue to make the environment investment and business-friendly. We will continue to make Lagos a destination of choice. We understand that people have choices, but they can indeed make those investment decisions in Lagos.
“Lagos is one of the reference points not only in West Africa but in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa and we are excited that you are here.
“We are hoping that you have seen one or two things that you can take back, and you can continue to assure the business community in the United Kingdom that Nigeria is ripe already and Lagos is a destination that they should consider.”
Speaking earlier, Badenoch said the businesses from the United Kingdom were excited about investing in Nigeria and Lagos in particular.
She said the United Kingdom was ready to work with Nigeria to reduce trade barriers and ensure that business between the two countries goes as smoothly as possible.
She said: “Primarily, I want to continue doing what my main job is, which is promoting British business and international trade all across the world, and I visit many countries.
“And of course, when the opportunity arose, I definitely wanted to come to Nigeria. As many people know, this is the country that I lived in when I was a child. And the first meeting that I had was a British business roundtable, which is businesses from the United Kingdom that are investing in Nigeria, mainly in Lagos.
“We want to make sure that we have the two-way trade. We know the challenges that Nigeria is having with foreign exchange.
“One of the ways that you can resolve that is exporting more and finding out what we can do on the United Kingdom side to reduce those barriers to trade and ensure that business between the two countries goes as smoothly as possible.”
