Commissioner for Finance, Akinyemi Ashade
Seeks over $3b to complete 30 projects</strong
The Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Akinyemi Ashade, has stated that N1.1 trillion has been spent on infrastructure development in the last eight years.
Speaking at the 2017 Nigerian Debt Capital Markets Conference and Awards held recently in Lagos, Ashade said despite the amount spent so far, the state is currently grappling with basic infrastructure challenges.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that more than $3 billion is needed to achieve 30 most impactful project of the state in the next five years.
According to him, the major issue that needed urgent attention in the state is land optimisation, as the buildings in the highbrow areas of the state are mostly bungalow.
“We believe that land optimization is the challenge in Lagos. 50 per cent of buildings in the downtown are bungalows and that is not optimization. We are still grappling with basic infrastructure development in Lagos State,” the commissioner said.
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He however, noted that the state has embarked on a revenue reform programme that would enable it reduce debt profile and access to fund through the bond market.
“Our environment is our challenge, but there is ongoing environmental reforms in the state. We believe that the state cannot continue to go to the bond market to increase its debt profile, because we are doing a lot of reforms to boost our revenue in a sustainable manner.
“There is explosive increase in population by 5 per cent per annum with 123,000 people migrating on a daily basis. Lagos state is the highest consumer of power in Nigeria. We are currently focusing on power reform, environment reform and transport reform.
“Our IGR is 67 per cent while 28 per cent comes from government transfer. Our source of IGR is personal income tax while corporate tax goes to federal government. This government is committed to executing Lagos state developmental plans with focus on vital sectors,” he said.
Ashade, who was represented by the Commissioner for Energy & Mineral Resources, Olawale Oluwo urged federal government to avoid crowd out the private sector in its economic plan and Budget strategy as well as create a window for local governments to raise bond from the market.
“If we can have a system that can put us to raise money at a sustainable rate, the better for the state. The federal government is still crowding out the private sector and that is why only Lagos State has accessed the market for fund raising in the last three years,” he added.
Source: G Business
