Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said on Tuesday that his administration was deploying technology to provide sustainable solutions to challenges associated with food security, transportation, healthcare delivery and education, among others.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke at the Endeavor Nigeria’s Annual Scale Up Entrepreneurship Summit held on Tuesday, on Victoria Island, Lagos.
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Sanwo-Olu said his administration understood that the key role of government in the emerging global ecosystem was to provide critical infrastructure while also initiating policies aimed at easing the process of doing business.
He said: “Some of the initiatives we are implementing to support the tech and initiatives ecosystem include the fiber optics that we are laying to improve Internet connection, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, which has supported over 12,710 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), to access over N8.4 billion loan.
“We are also boosting agricultural productivity through the Lagos Agri-Preneurship (L.A.P) intervention aimed at exposing young entrepreneurs to the potential in the agriculture value chain through training using modern technology-enabled agricultural techniques and practices for job and wealth creation.”
He said his government was also prioritising and investing in initiatives that help to deepen the deployment of technology in process and ideas aimed at providing sustainable solutions to local challenges.
“It gives me great pleasure to know that we have a great partner in Endeavor Nigeria with whom we can synergise to provide the necessary support for our budding entrepreneurs,” he said.
He commended Endeavor Nigeria for providing the platform and support that have given rise to enterprises that have harnessed the power of innovation and technology such as Flutter Wave, Moniepoint, Daystar Power, Piggy Vest, and Paga.
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“Given the celebrated achievements of these enterprises across the continent and beyond, creating wealth and job opportunities and contributing significantly to the nation’s GDP, we can look forward with confidence and optimism, into a future that guarantees ground-breaking breakthroughs that will further launch Nigeria and indeed Africa into global economic prominence,” Sanwo-Olu said.