Kiishi-Lagos

SmartCity project to create 50,000 jobs

BY OZIOMA UBABUKOH

Promoters of the SmartCity Innovation Hub project have said the hub located in Lekki-Epe, Lagos, will create 50,000 direct employments in its first five years.

According to them, the project will also galvanise economic diversification and move Nigeria towards a knowledge-based economy.

Sir Demola Aladekomo

They stated this in Lagos at a private presentation of the project to technology industry stakeholders.

The holding company for the project is SmartCity Resorts, an investment and infrastructure company. Its Chairman, Demola Aladekomo, said the hub was an A-grade technology development infrastructure, “which will prime the local technology industry for global competitiveness, galvanise it from crass consumerism towards innovation and world-class manufacturing standards.”

He said, “Upon completion, it has the potential to create about 50,000 direct employments in its first five years. It will be the Nigerian equivalent of the Silicon Valley in the United States of America, which is home to many of the world’s largest technology corporations and thousands of tech start-up companies.

“It is beyond doubt that Silicon Valley is the world’s leading hub for high-tech innovation and development, and has been pivotal to the global information technology revolution.”

Conceived in 2011 for development in Lagos and Abuja, promoters of the SmartCity Innovation Hub include the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigeria Computer Society, and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.

The project is seen as a move to bring together technology, government and society in ways that promote the culture of innovation and the competitiveness between allied businesses and knowledge-based institutions.

Location of the hub is considered strategic and within the same locality as the Pan Atlantic University and proposed developments such as Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lekki International Airport, Deep Seaport Project, and Dangote Petrochemical Project.

The innovation hub is being developed on a 48-hectare land allocated by the Lagos State Government.

Aladekomo said that for the benefit of the Nigerian economy and the local technology industry, the project team was working with policy makers, regulators, technology corporations and venture capitalists to recreate the same prototype in Nigeria.

“Collectively, the objective of all stakeholders on the project is to build a technology city that will be a magnet for technology-led investment, innovation and talent, making it one of the top destinations for technology companies, entrepreneurs and investors on the African continent,” he added.

“The SmartCity Innovation Hub will engender economic diversification and will move Nigeria towards a knowledge-based economy birthing a prosperous, productive and innovative nation.”

The Managing Director, Greenwich Trust Limited, the financial advisers to the project, Mr. Kayode Falowo, said the hub project was well rounded and viable with the requisite support from government, regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders.

He added that international development funding institutions and local financial institutions were willing to lend developmental and operational support to the project.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje, commended the promoters of the project and spoke on government’s readiness to lend support to it within the ambit of its power.

Affirming this, Mr. Funmi Oshinfuye, who represented the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, said that the project aligned with the overarching vision of the ministry to transform Lagos State into a megacity through new urban developments that are eco-friendly and socially inclusive.

Already, leading technology corporations that include Microsoft Corporation, Zinox Technologies Limited, MainOne Cable Company Limited, Interswitch Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria Limited, Visafone Communications Limited, Chams Plc, Data Sciences Nigeria Limited, Systemspecs, and VDT Communications Limited are among the current subscribers taking up space at the hub.

Equally, public sector institutions with regulatory oversights such as the Korean Public Joint Venture, Nigerian Communications Commission, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, and the Lagos State Ministry of Science and Technology have also taken up space at the hub. Other subscribers include Medplus, First Bank of Nigeria, and the International Finance Infrastructure.