National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Tayo Olanipekun
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, has revealed that for the the maga city required one million housing units yearly between the next five to 10 years to fix the deficit in providing shelter for the residents.
This is as he also said instead of the less than 2,000MW of electricity currently being supplied in the state, over 10,000MW would be needed, much as 750 million gallons of water is needed daily in the State.
Speaking at a round-table on infrastructure financing organised by the Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria (HBSAN), in collaboration with the State government, Ambode said the state and indeed the country was at a critical point in history where careful assessment must be made on infrastructure deficit.
He said his government was aware of the “challenges confronting it in the area of infrastructure deficit.”
The Governor, however, affirmed that it was time for “solid actions that would not only positively affect the livelihood of the people today, but also protect the future of the younger generations to be taken in that direction.”
Ambode said the population of Lagos, at the moment, is estimated at 24 million people, which he estimated to be equal to 30 African countries combined.
He observed that by 2050, the state is on track to be a city of “36 million people or the sixth largest city in the world after Mumbai, Delhi, Dakar, Kinshasa, Kolkata and ahead of Tokyo, Karachi, New York and Mexico City.”
He said: “We have a migration rate of 86 people moving into Lagos every hour, higher than New York, London or Mumbai. We have a population density of 6,939 persons per kilometre and an average of five persons per household. With all these, comes challenges and pressures on the physical and social infrastructure.
“As at 2010, our State was facing an infrastructure deficit of $50billion, without the inclusion of Housing and Education. In 2017, we can all imagine what this deficit will be.
“We presently supply 210.5 million gallons of water per day (“mgpd”) as against a demand of 750 mgpd; our State generates 13,000 tonnes of solid waste per day more than New York, United States,” he noted.
He added that the major issues would be how to bridge the gap in infrastructure considering the fact that revenues were not growing at the same rate as the rapidly increasing population, and that government was unwilling to increase taxes unnecessarily or tax residents to death, a development he said necessitated the discussion.
“In government, we do not have all the answers. That is the truth. That is why we are here. Our primary role as government is to be enablers. Our major responsibilities are to protect the lives and property of residents and to improve their welfare,” he said.
The keynote speaker at the session, Professor John Macomber of the Harvard Business School, lamented the over-centralization operating in the country, saying that the Federal Government could build more infrastructure if not for the centrally controlled mechanism.
On his part, one of the discussants, Dr. Andrew Nevin, who is one of PWC’s leading global thinkers, urged the State Government to consider tapping into the huge data available to financial institutions to unlock revenue potential on landed property in the State, which can be deployed to address the massive infrastructure deficits the State is currently contending with.
Photo Caption:
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd right); President, Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria (HBSAN) & Managing Director, Anglophone Africa SAAMA Holdings/Orobo Limited USA, Mr. Fola Ogunsiakan (right); Managing Director/CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane (2ndleft) and Special Adviser, Office of Overseas Affairs & Investment (Lagos Global), Prof. Ademola Abass (left) during the Infrastructure Round Table by Harvard Business School Alumni Association at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, on Monday.
