In a bid to woo investors to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos State Government has promised to grant prospective investors complete tax holiday from federal, state and local government taxes, rates customs duties and levies.
The State’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye, stated this on Thursday last week during the inaugural edition of the Business Consultative Forum with City and Bilateral Chambers which held at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
He added that the government had established one-stop approvals for all permits, operating licences and incorporation papers.
According to Ogunleye, as part of the incentives, duty-free and tax-free status will be accorded on all imported raw materials and components for goods destined for export.
The commissioner stated that there was a 100 per cent permission to sell manufactured, assembled or imported goods in the Nigerian market.
Expatriate quotas for companies operating in the zone were part of the approved incentives for the zone, he added.
Ogunleye said, “The Dangote Group is developing a refinery, petrochemicals with 650,000 bpd capacity, gas and fertilizer plant at the cost of over $12bn.
“This area is being developed under a partnership agreement between the Lagos State Government and a Chinese consortium known as the China Africa Lekki Investment Limited. Consequently, a special-purpose vehicle known as the Lekki Free Zone Development Company is driving the development of the 3000 hectares quadrant on behalf of the two parties.”
In her speech, the National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mrs. Alaba Lawson, who was represented by the National Vice-President, Mr. Janni Ibrahim, noted that NACCIMA was of the view that the forum should be sustained.
She said that the zone should be given the required attention to attract more foreign direct investment.
“This zone is important as it will sustain over 20 million people in the state. This will bring about global business not only in the state, but also in the country as a whole,” she stated.
Also speaking, Director, Research and Development, LCCI, Dr. Vincent Nwani, advised the management of the free-trade zone to build functional railway lines linking the place with the Apapa port and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja.
He noted that this would facilitate the export of goods from the zone.
He suggested that clarification be made concerning the allocation of foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operators in the free zone, noting that it would help to avoid challenges with access to forex.
