Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has revealed that President Bola Tinubu is very excited and fully supportive of the establishment of the Lagos International Financial Centre (LIFC).
The Governor shared this update during a welcome dinner for delegates at the Nigeria Foreign Direct Investment Training Programme, currently taking place at the University of Cambridge.
The high-level training, organized by TheCityUK and funded by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, aims to equip Nigerian stakeholders with the tools to position Lagos as a premier global financial hub.
Sanwo-Olu, who chairs the LIFC Council, noted that the President is eagerly awaiting a formal high-level paper to integrate the project into the national economic agenda.
“It is not about any particular person or region; it is about the country,” Sanwo-Olu stated, emphasizing that the LIFC is designed to position Nigeria as a serious contender in the global financial space. He praised the President’s quick grasp of the concept and his willingness to take leadership and ownership of the initiative.
Co-chairman of the LIFC Council, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, echoed the Governor’s optimism, citing the rare unity between the public and private sectors as a sign of the project’s viability.
The training includes a significant delegation of Nigerian officials, including the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms. Aisha Rimi, and several members of the National Assembly.
The stakeholders believe that with the President’s backing, the LIFC will successfully transition from a conceptual framework to a physical platform capable of attracting massive foreign direct investment and harmonizing Nigeria’s regulatory environment with international standards.