EHINGBETI 2012 •
BIh La os
I
1
Investment in public infrastruc ure ItleY to employment creation - Paulo TaJner nvesllng in eThical infraSlructure Is one useful s.ralegy for reducing the level of unemploymenl In ugos 'Iale in particular, and Nigeria In general. according 10 Paul Taroer,
I
Undc r-Secrelary of Finance, Rki de laneiro. Br,ujl.
S peaking
III
the
' EJ:pt'rience Sharing Forum'
lime 6th lagos Economic
Summit. yesterday , r.fner explained thai one of the faclOrs which has helped 10 CTealC Jobs rOf the young people of Rio
de laneiro was Ihe huge invH tment undenaken In tnIrastructuraI development by government In [oll.boratlon whh Ihe pnvale seclar. Taroer t;l"plained Iha l
Lagos , much like Ihe ,SIBle of Rio de ,aneiro,
needs
10
make significant
Investments in Industrial planlS and public sernces IS I way of generating employment and redudng poveny. ·Our Inveslmenl In )M!uochemical. elect:rlcal and power planu has Cleated employmenl for many of our young people. We have also Invuled aboUI $1.2 billion In public InfraS!ruclure, Including W3lersupplyandsanlI8110n. Tbday, aboUi 99 perceOi of households In the Siale of Rio de Janeiro have water lupply, whiJe about 40 percenl have access to good sanitation: He furtherexplalned thai lagos and RID de Janeiro
share a 101 In common In lenns of their SlalUl as mega cilles, adding Ihat Ihey likewise shan similar challenges • Aparl from Inve5tlns In public lnbaruuctun!, lafner
also urged lhe Lasos slate gove.mmeOi to ensure lhal government policies are Illo· poor and all inclusive. lie explained that through their Income transfer programme 10
young people above Ihe age of 16 Rio de Janeiro has been able to achieve a 33 perc~1 reduction In poverty In the lilSI fiveye.;us. Tarner was optlmlslic Ihat Lagos Stale, like Rio
de Janeiro would be able to record some progre" In Itl drive to improve physical securlly • which he emphasised . was critical 10 allraalng plivale Inveslment.
He Iiso urged the Lagos state govemmenl 10 provide Incentives for new complI.les lind 5Ianups, and 10 bll open. effidenl and lJanspalelllln dealing with busines.es and companies..
Increased allocation to agric sedor critical for food seturity
H
"
h.,
budgelaTy allocallon 10 agrlcuhure Is crl1ical 10 u :hieving food security In Lagos Slate, said Blsi Onasanya , the Group Managing Direclor{GMD} First Bank of Nigeria Pic. II the Sectoral Session on Agriculture at the 61h
Lagos Economic Summit yesterday. Onasanya, represented by Uke Eke, the Eltecullve Director Public Seclor at Ihe Bank, nOled thai II Is Imperative for government 10 allocate more Investment resources 10 the agrlcuhwal sector 10 achieve food security. According io Eke, 0.6" perceot of the 10lal budget fOI Lagos Sil l e was earmarke d for t h e
asrlcuitural sec lor, compared to 4.77 percenl fOI Imo, 2 . 84 perceol for Aba lbom and 1.40 percenl for Delta. Eke funher warned lhat the faihue of th e Lagos S ial e GovernmenL 10 Invest more Significantly In prosrammes and polic.ies tbat would help Ihe Slale achieve food security would hun the InvesuneOl IllfllclivenesJ of the stale to the long. lerm..
·lnveSlmenlS will move 10 dlles with food security, which 15 why Lagos needs 10 double liS effortS 10 achieve food security now~ I-Ie listed Asaba. calabar, Dweni, Vyo, Port· l-larcourt and Enugu . as some of the eliles Ihal Lago. Is compe t ing wilh fOI Invesunent. Eke also urged the Lagos state government to colla bora te with Its siSler Slales 10 the south · weSi
region In Its food security programm~
"Because Lagos has the smaUest land mass In the South · WeSi region , It Is difficult for the Slale to ernclenliy feed itself without collaboration with the otlier south-west slates: he said. The session was chaired Aklnwuml Adeslna mlniSier for agrlcuhure ,represented by Bello, special assistanl 10
Ihe mlnlSier. while Rahul Savara, lanaging Director Chi Group, was Ihe lead· speaker Other discussants at the se5510n Included Gbolahan Lawai, Commissioner of Ag r iculture and Cooperatives. Lagos Sla le . Rotlmi Fashola. Consultanl Rice Value Chain, Polosunmola Umoru, Foundel / CEO Farmsboppe and PleterSwanepoel. GM ZambedWes1 Africa.