New Airport in Lekki and other large investments that could make Lagos West Africa's biggest economy

Lagos State, Nigeria’s melting point, is said to be one of the largest economies in West Africa, almost twice the size of the economies of Togo, the Benin Republic and the Niger Republic.

It is the microcosm of Nigeria, has the biggest Gross Domestic Product (GPD) in the country with $91 billion, and earns far more than any other state from internally generated revenue (IGR).

Lagos also leads other states as the highest indebted in the country. Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) states that the external debt of Lagos is over $1 billion.

According to BusinessDay, Lagos owes about $1.33 billion in external debts, leading the pack of other highly indebted states in Nigeria.

With over 20 million residents, vibrant commerce and good infrastructure, Lagos is also a choice destination for investors.

A report quoted the Lagos State government as saying it has attracted about $26.07 billion in the last two years.

Experts believe that the population of Lagos state is an attraction for investors as it houses two thriving seaports, Apapa and Tin Can ports.

There are other investments in Lagos capable of transforming the state into West Africa’s biggest economy.

Lekki Deep Seaport

Still partly under construction, the Lekki Deep Sea Port will compete with federal government-owned and operated ports and will process about 4 million tons of cargo annually. It will have a container volume of 2.5 million Twenty Equipment Units (TEU) in a year.

Dangote Refinery

Estimated at $19 billion, the Dangote Refinery will produce about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and a storage capacity of 4.74 billion barrels of crude oil. It is projected that the operational refinery would ease Nigeria’s fuel problem, crash the price of imports and confine petrol scarcity to the past.

Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFZ)

The Lekki Free Trade Zone sits on about 3,000 hectares of investment space with 132 free-trade enterprises and seven investment-rich sectors and has about 320 million market size.

New Lekki Airport

To complement the huge investments pouring into the Lekki axis, the Lagos State government announced that it would build a new airport in the area.

Vanguard reports that the construction of the new airport in the Lekki-Epe area will commence in 2023. The state government declared on its official Instagram handle on Friday, October 7, 2022.

Ope George, Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated on Thursday, October 6, 2022, that the government had already gotten the required approvals from the Nigerian government to fly the new airport.

George said the new airport would be constructed on 3,500 hectares of land in the Lekki-Epe area.

With investments flowing into the state, analysts believe it would soon outpace other countries in West Africa to emerge as the biggest economy in the region. If this happens, Lagos will be on its way to becoming the Dubai of West Africa.