The President, European Business Chambers (EuroCham), Adefolu Majekodunmi, has stated that European businesses are exploring opportunities in a bid to expand their investment portfolio in the country.

Speaking during a visit to the Lagos Free Zone, Majekodunmi explained that the purpose of the visit was to explore the opportunities for European companies to simplify their investments and operations in Nigeria.

“My expectation is to see our organisations that visited today setting up their facilities within the Lagos Free Zone. We do know that many of them have already shown interest in doing this and I think the experience from today has solidified their decision and thought process. It has been a very worthwhile experience for EuroCham and its members,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Free Zone (LFZ), Dinesh Rathi described the zone as the next frontier and the best investment destination not only in Nigeria but also in the entire West African sub-region. Rathi mentioned that phase one of the LFTZ would be completed by 2022, which he said would be marked by the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Sea Port.

Rathi stated “We would leverage technology not only as an enabler but also as a differentiator. Lagos Free Zone would be a full-fledged digitally-enabled zone. We are currently working with a leading telecom and network solutions provider to connect the entire zone with a high-speed fibre optic network.”

Giving a testimonial on the competitive advantage of Lagos Free Zone, Mr Taiwo Ilesanmi, the Managing BASF Operations LFTZ Enterprise was quoted as saying that their experience had been impressive in the last two years of the company’s operations in the zone.

“The Lagos Free Zone team have been very supportive, they extended their full assistance to guide us through the process of setting up our facility and they have also been constantly available to help us resolve any operational issues that arise, efficiently and amicably.” he said.