Ebola Virus Takes Toll on Lagos Trade Fair

President, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello

By Crusoe Osagie

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has decried the low turn out of Chinese and other foreign businesses at the ongoing 2014 Lagos International Trade Fair, noting that the low turn out is due to  the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak that plagued the country some months ago.
The president, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, explained that although, the fair still has in attendance, few foreign companies who came on their own free will, it is clear that the reoccurrence of such epidemic should be prevented as it poses threat to economic development.

Bello who was represented by the Chairman, Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Mr. Olawale Cole during a press briefing  said participation by exhibitors presently is about 1600 both local and foreign.
According to him, the foreign exhibitors on ground include companies from China, Japan, Egypt, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Cameroun, pointing out these countries are participating at the fair because they know the country is safe enough to do business.
“Nigeria has been officially declared free of EVD outbreak, so there can be no speculation at all about the fear of EVD keeping away foreign exhibitors. The presence of these foreigners has given the lie to such rumours,” he said.
He however stated the fair has been challenged with power supply to power up activities, but stressed that it had taken proactive and strategic  steps to surmount the challenge.
In his words, “a lot of money to provide back up for generators have been so overwhelming. The ones we got were not performing below expectation but we have been able to address this issue.”
“The present administration is working tireless to address the power generation and distribution, but they need to act urgently because this situation is making a lot of companies in the country uncompetitive,” he said.

He said all hands are on deck to make this year’s fair one of the best organised fairs in recent history.
He said the theme of the fair tagged “Promoting the Nigerian economy as a preferred investment destination” was chosen to underscore the critical importance of creating an enabling environment to attract new investments and grow existing ones.
“It is also to underline the imperative of building an economy that is diversified and sustainable. There is perhaps no better time to do this than now,” he said.

He said the pressing and overriding contemporary challenge in the nation’s quest for economic diversification and transformation is to fix the impediments to productivity and competitiveness in the economy.
“These include the state of infrastructures, especially public power supply; the challenge of substandard and fake products in the country which had done and is still doing serious harm to manufacturers; poor state of our roads; the high cost and limited access to funds, policy inconsistencies and the growing insecurity to mention a few of the inhibiting factors,” he added.

He said if Nigeria tackles these constraints, it would encourage domestic investment, attract foreign capital and facilitate the realisation of the enormous potentials in the Nigerian economy.
He said these potentials abound in the agricultural, industrial, gas based industries; services, solid minerals, tourism and distributive trade sectors.

He said as a policy advocacy group, the chamber will continue to offer advice, inputs and partnership on strategies and measures to facilitate the advancement of the Nigerian economy, but stressed that this has to be complemented by the government investment in the provision of an enabling environment for investors.
Culled from: http://www.thisdaylive.com