Lagos State Government said its Central Business District [CBD] has been accepted as a member of the International Downtown Association [IDA], a body comprising financial districts across the world.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on the CBD, Agboola Dabiri, explained in Alausa, Ikeja, on Wednesday that only two other countries in Africa are members of the IDA.
According to Dabiri, the benefits of being a member of the international body include partnership opportunities, unlimited access to new information about developments in the management of financial districts, first hand information about emerging trends and other peer review activities.
He said, “The CBD’s membership of the IDA is a milestone for Lagos considering that the IDA, with membership strength of 2,000 cosmopolitan cities, is the only internationally recognised umbrella association of all business districts all over the world.”
Dabiri, who said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to ensuring that all the business districts in Lagos continued to thrive, urged firms which had relocated from the CBD due to security and traffic challenges to come back.
He added that efforts were being made to make the CBD a one-stop centre for business and pleasure.
The special adviser said a summit to discuss and proffer solutions to challenges in the CBD was in the offing.
Dabiri said street trading was no longer allowed in the CBD, warning that anyone caught would be prosecuted.
He said, “The Lagos State Government is determined to restore sanity to the CBD and make it a model business environment comparable to other standard CBDs around the world.”
The special adviser said the CBD, which contained some of the historical sites in the state, was being given a facelift as part of activities leading up to the 50th anniversary of the state coming up next year. Punch
