The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, on Wednesday pledged to facilitate the formalisation of businesses operating around the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, one of the country’s busiest commercial corridors.
She assured traders of the Federal Government’s support through improved infrastructure, tax harmonisation, and stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Oduwole made the pledge during a visit to the trade complex, where she toured the facility and met with traders, investors, and leaders of business associations operating in the area.
The minister said the scale of commercial activities within the complex highlights its strategic importance to Nigeria and the wider West African economy.
“Even though you gave me the honour of closing your gates and coming here to receive me, I still saw the level of activity just riding around,” she said.
“The different associations and the level of trade going on around here are certainly the biggest in West Africa. The trade you are doing is certainly contributing to the GDP of Nigeria, of ECOWAS, and to Africa.”
Oduwole noted that although many businesses in the complex operate informally, the scale of their operations shows they are far from small.
“You are begging to be formalised. This is a highly informal sector, but your informality is not due to a lack of sophistication,” she said.
“Some of you prefer to fly under the radar, but you are moving billions of naira internationally. You cannot make us feel that your informality means that you are small, because you are not.”
She explained that the Federal Government plans to work with stakeholders to integrate these businesses into the formal economy while addressing key challenges such as logistics bottlenecks, infrastructure deficits, and multiple taxation.
“That informality that is begging for formality, we will work with you on that,” Oduwole said.
The minister also encouraged Nigerian traders who own factories abroad to consider relocating manufacturing operations to Nigeria in order to create jobs and strengthen the country’s industrial base.
“Many of you are industrialists and Nigerian business investors. Some of you own factories elsewhere. You cannot enrich other countries and create jobs for others when you can do it here,” she said.
“We are going to help you partner with you for backward integration so that you are manufacturing here, selling here, and exporting to others.”
Oduwole added that the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is prioritising support for domestic investors before seeking to attract more foreign investment.
“Before we talk about attracting foreign investment, it matters more how we treat our domestic investors and encourage and support them,” she said.
During the meeting, traders raised concerns about multiple checkpoints, regulatory bottlenecks, and poor infrastructure affecting business activities in the trade corridor.
The minister acknowledged these challenges and promised that the government would collaborate with federal, state, and local authorities to address road congestion and other infrastructure problems.
“I went on the roads myself and experienced some of the traffic you experience daily,” she said. “Without that traffic, with similar roads, more people will come, and more trade will happen because time is really money.”
She also assured traders that the government would address complaints about multiple taxes and levies.
To strengthen communication and accountability, Oduwole announced plans to institutionalise quarterly engagements between the ministry and business associations operating in the complex.
“This is a new beginning of building trust and working together,” she said. “Every quarter, we will agree on what we will achieve, take it step by step, hold ourselves accountable, and deliver.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Balogun Business Association, Okechukwu Ezeibe, urged the government to tackle excessive checkpoints, multiple taxation, and poor infrastructure affecting businesses in the area.
“If you look at the road from the top to this place, we have 34 checkpoints, and from the bottom, we have 53,” Ezeibe said.
“As our production costs increase, we pass them on to consumers.”
He also criticised the poor state of infrastructure around the complex despite the taxes paid by traders.
“We are paying billions of naira to the government, and we are not experiencing it by receiving one bridge, one streetlight, or one transformer,” he said.
In her welcome address, the Executive Director of the trade complex, Veronica Nadanusa, described the facility as one of Nigeria’s most important commercial centres.
She noted that the complex continues to serve as a major platform for exhibitions, trade fairs, and business engagements that attract manufacturers, investors, and entrepreneurs from Nigeria and abroad.
Nadanusa added that the minister’s visit provided an opportunity to highlight the challenges affecting the facility and discuss plans to revitalise its infrastructure to meet global standards.
