The Lagos Salesman

In his hands is an exquisite product, Lagos, and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would stop at nothing in marketing it to all prospective investors, writes Shola Oyeyipo

At every opportunity, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. BabajideSanwo-Olu is relentless in marketing the state to would-be investors – local and foreign. He is obviously not battling the famous second term syndrome.

Whilst he would not be seeking re-election by the next election cycle, he is curiously not slowing down. He’s probably realised that his legacy is as important as his succession.

This, therefore, explains why he is firing from all cylinders in his commitment to marketing Lagos to investors and making the state the favourite destination for investors of all kinds.

Anyone monitoring the Sanwo-Olu administration would have noticed how he has continued to work relentlessly in the bid to attract foreign-direct investments into Lagos State.

Lagos,  the state of aquatic splendour, presently ranks as the business capital of Africa, and it is in that light that he beamed lights on the potentials of the state, when he took to the podium recently at Harvard Business School.

Sanwo-Olu spoke as a guest during a course by a renowned Nigerian academic and businessman, Professor Hakeem Belo-Osagie, themed, “Understanding Africa: Business, Entrepreneurship, Political Economy and the Complexities of a Continent,” the governor dwelled on the topic: “Building the Future: Lagos State’s Infrastructure-Led Transformation.” 

This, no doubt, presented Sanwo-Olu with the opportunity to share his administration’s ambitious vision for Lagos and the progress recorded in areas like transportation, housing, climate innovation, and industrial development, which he said were precursors for business growth, thereby making Lagos the most ideal destination for investors.

Look at the statistics: The state’s GDP of $259bn, it’s 25 million population, the functional Lagos Blue Line, which is the first intra-city electric rail system in Africa, the Red Line, and the about-to-be started Green Line project, aimed to connect Lagos Island with the Lekki-Epe corridor.

Not done, he further listed the abundant tech savvy youth population, which he said constitutes the bedrock of a 30-year Development Plan to create a human-centric economy in Lagos, investments in education at all levels, investment-friendly policies, and the state’s four seaports, were parts of the factors Sanwo-Olu boasted as why Lagos is a business and commercially viable destination. 

According to him, “What truly made the session special was the engaging discussion with the brilliant students. Their insightful and thought-provoking questions, covering topics such as leadership, sustainable revenue generation, infrastructure renewal, and investment partnerships, showcased just how much interest there is in Africa’s urban transformation.

“Lagos is on the rise, not only in terms of growth but also in importance. We aim to be a shining example of how infrastructure can drive prosperity across the continent, and this reinforces that we’re heading in the right direction.”

Sometime ago, the governor, who joined other participants at 2025 edition of the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit (CTIS), held at the City of London’s historic Mansion House, London, on Monday, April 7, 2025, did what he knows how to do best by presenting Lagos to the commonwealth business community as a state in Nigeria ready to receive businesses. 

He joined Heads of Governments, senior ministers, and representatives of Commonwealth governments in the plenary, participated in roundtable discussions, and networked some of the commonwealth’s key participants.

Sanwo-Olu joined other notable speakers like the Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, DrJumokeOduwole; the Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade, and Industry, Kenya, Lee Kinyanjui; President of Zanzibar, His Excellency, Dr Hussain Ali Mwinyi; Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah; His Excellency, The Rt Hon Alderman Alistair King (Lord Mayor of the City of London), Hon Shirley AyokorBotchwey (Secretary-General of the Commonwealth), as well as ministers from Gibraltar and Jersey.

Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori; His Royal Majesty, Igwe Alfred Achebe; the Obi of Onitsha, Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John OlorunfemiOnaiyekan; and Chairman, Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, were some of the prominent Nigerians present at that event.

Sanwo-Olu, who underscored the fact that Lagos has the largest seaport in sub–Saharan Africa and the biggest refinery, said, “At the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit (CTIS) 2025, I led a governor’s Roundtable focused on unlocking opportunities in Lagos State. The roundtable offered a great platform to share our story and opportunities for investment with the international business community.” 

“We have solidified Lagos’ position as Africa’s largest city and a thriving innovation, finance, and creativity center. Our aim has always been to drive economic growth and attract investment across key sectors. We have made great strides by fostering a supportive regulatory framework and improving infrastructure.

“A resilient and ambitious private sector is at the heart of Lagos’ growth. We need to continue building the right environment: access to credit, reliable infrastructure, supportive regulations, and public sector responsiveness. Our role as a government is to listen, enable, and support when needed. With the right partnerships, Lagos will continue to lead in Africa and compete globally”.

On why his government participated in the event, he said, “We have done a lot of heavy liftings before COVID, during COVID, post COVID. There have been a lot of improvements. We have doubled almost the GDP of the state in six years.

“You have seen those improvements in infrastructure, in rail, in health. But there is still a lot of work to be done. There is still a lot of heavy lifting that we need to do, and so that is why we are here.

“We are here to tell the Nigerian story – to tell the clear Lagos story that we are building a shared prosperity for the future. We just don’t want it to be an African mega-model city; we want it to be a city that is functional, that is working, and that is real.”

In 2023, during a Sky News interview, Sanwo-Olu, stated that London held a special place in Lagos’ history and that as the state began its journey as a global financial hub with the setup of the Lagos International Financial Centre council with the mission of positioning the state as Africa’s premier financial centre, it was important to begin the storytelling and investor road show from London. 

“Inviting UK investors aligns with our commitment to sustainable growth. Lagos, a dynamic economy, offers a promising landscape for those eager to contribute and thrive. Our focus on development ensures mutual benefit for all involved,” he stated.

This, perhaps, justified why Sanwo-Olu didn’t take kindly to the delivery of a former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, at John Hopkins in the US, which seemed to be a deliberate demarketing of Nigeria, a country he sought to govern. For him, marketing Lagos was inevitably marketing Nigeria, and anything to the contrary was unacceptable in the spirit of patriotism.

Sanwo-Olu has said to whoever cares to listen that, “The GDP of Lagos is bigger than the GDP of Kenya, bigger than Ghana, bigger than Rwanda, and it is bigger than Senegal. So, as a subnational, it’s actually very big in how it stands, in how it sits.

“And it is all of that conversation that we think a lot of people need to know what is happening in Lagos and how we can use the Lagos story to sort of tell the African story and be able to put it where it should really be.”

He said the idea behind the Lagos Financial International Council was just to let the world, starting with London, know what was happening in Lagos, stressing that, “the council will set up strategies where we can hand-hold British companies; foreign direct investors that want to come into Lagos. Let’s know what the red tapes are.

“What are the things they want us to do: regulatory frameworks, legal frameworks; what kind of permit they need to have, what kind of approval they need to have. So, the council is going to set up structures where communication and collaboration will happen.”

Asked which sectors he was hoping to expand, he said, “The tech industry is very important. You know, for the past three to four years, Lagos has remained the tech capital in Africa. So, there is still a lot of depth that we must bring into that space. The financial services.

“Yes, there is a whole of financial products that need to be deepened in that sector, so we want to see a lot more international financial organisations come into Lagos. We want the creative industry to also have a playing in our economy.

“Then, of course, general and consumer products. Because of the population we have, we believe anything indeed could have a market – you could have your own share of the market; petrochemicals, and consumer products. Any of those 3-4 areas will indeed do very well in Lagos.” 

The administration’s efforts are paying off eventually. Sanwo-Olu was in the delegation who joined President Bola Tinubu to the Forum of Africa-China Cooperation in Beijing, the capital of China in 2024, and the governor returned with some juicy Memorandum of Understanding, and which Lagos State is expected to gain tremendously from.

In March, the Lagos State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Lagos International Financial Centre (LIFC) and the United Kingdom, through The City of U.K financial center, in order to drive economic growth and development.

Also, in December of last year, the administration signed yet another MoU with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), and the government was optimistic that this would open up opportunities and provide a framework for collaboration across key sectors such as trade and investment, infrastructure development, education and capacity building, tourism and cultural exchange,  and the green economy, among others.

Evidently, Sanwo-Olu is fast writing his name in the sand of time with his immutable legacy littering nearly all parts of the state. Interestingly, the core of his legacy is in the intangible, by way of providing compassionate, generous, and purposeful leadership.

In the end, when the overall mathematics is done with the addition, subtraction and multiplication taken out of the equation, whatever is left would be enough for Sanwo-Olu to continue to earn his marks, many years after leaving office, as one Lagos salesman, who against the odds, left the state better. Indeed, Lagos will miss him post-2027.