Sanwo-Olu wants Nigeria to tap from Germany’s industrialisation trajectory

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said Nigeria has a lot of lessons to learn from Germany’s industrialisation trajectory as the nation seeks to reverse its infrastructural deficit, build capacity across various production value-chains and develop the economy.

Sanwo-Olu said this yesterday, during a German-Nigerian business conference, hosted by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), as part of a visit by the Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Lagos, to strengthen bilateral ties between both countries.

With over 60 years of mutually beneficial relationship, Sanwo-Olu said Nigeria has emerged as an important political, economic and cultural partner of Germany in Africa, with many success stories to share.

Noting that the engagement during the two-day visit would be further deepened for the country’s mutual benefits, he said the bilateral business forum was coming at a crucial time in the life of the nation when a majority of the conversation is built around strengthening the economy by attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), deepening domestic production and growing the nation’s non-oil export.

Represented by the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, Sanwo-Olu said his administration has been very deliberate about implementing strategic policies and intentional in its goal to attract investment into the state.

“Beyond the current offering in trade and investment, energy, environment, vocational training and academic exchange, our government is prioritising investment from prospective German investors in other critical areas such as building climate resilient infrastructure in transportation, housing, health, agriculture and other sectors,” he said.

In his address, Scholz said his visit was to increase trade and investment as well as improve local manufacturing. He noted that the country is investing heavily in energy, which he said aims to foster hydrogen and all the things that are important for an economy that can produce all the necessary goods for the people without harming the environment.

“I think that the investments into this structure must be easy, but also benefiting for your country. It is something that bothered me a lot in the past that sometimes it was just about extraction, which is not enough, there should be one bit more for making it feasible that some parts of the economic development can be used in the countries of origin.

President of the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce (NGCC), Igbuan Okaisabor, said the conference served as a catalyst for building stronger and more prosperous relationships between Nigeria and Germany to facilitate trade and spark innovation that would drive both economies.

According to him, both countries have promoted trade relations for over 37 years and have facilitated business, opened doors and built valuable relationships in tech, power, talent training, manufacturing, finance, construction, and investment.