Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos State, has said frantic efforts were being made by his administration to lift the state from its present fifth position to become the third largest economy in Africa.
Ambode, who spoke at the Christmas Eve Dance organised by the Yoruba Tennis Club, said that in order to achieve this, the state government would focus on Education (especially vocational training), and scaling up of its health facilities, including renewal and building of world class infrastructure in the coming year.
He said his government was committed to making the state globally competitive, adding that by virtue of its indices, Lagos had become a major city-state in the world.
The governor added that Lagos is currently home to 65 percent of Nigeria’s businesses, with a presence of over 2,000 manufacturing companies, 200 financial institutions and the largest collection of small and medium enterprises in Africa.
“We are Africa’s fastest growing market and still the fifth largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $91billion. The drop in our GDP value from $131billion is as a result of the fluctuation in foreign exchange but our ultimate goal is to grow our GDP to move from 5th to 3rd largest in Africa,” he said.
