Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday described Nigeria’s drive to become a $1 trillion economy as a project driven by private enterprise, fresh investment and coordinated policy reforms.
Shettima said Lagos State remains the right model in the drive.
Speaking at the Invest Lagos 3.0 summit at Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Vice President Shettima told an audience of investors, policymakers and business leaders that the nation’s economic future hinges on creating conditions that let capital and innovation scale.
Lagos, he said, illustrates how subnational leadership can accelerate national transformation.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Vice President Stanley Nkwocha in a statement quoted Shettkna as saying,
“Lagos is the livewire of our continent.”
Shettima called the state a testing ground for ideas, governance and economic execution.
The former federal capital, he added, has become Nigeria’s primary gateway for commerce and investment and one of Africa’s most influential business centers.
The Vice President credited sustained political leadership and institutional continuity for Lagos’s growth trajectory.
He lauded President Bola Tinubu for promoting a governance model that successive administrations have extended, and he praised Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for reinforcing the state’s appeal to investors.
Shettima framed recent macroeconomic measures by the Tinubu administration — some politically difficult, he acknowledged — as necessary steps to restore market confidence, shore up public finances and attract large-scale private capital.
“The economy of our dream cannot be built on illusions,” he said.
“It must be built on productivity, discipline and competitiveness.”
He also pointed to Nigeria’s demographic scale and its position under the African Continental Free Trade Area as structural advantages.
“With a fast-growing population and enhanced access to a continental market, Shettima noted.
He added that Nigeria can expand manufacturing, logistics and services to serve a market of more than 1.4 billion people.
The Vice President stressed that federal policy alone will not produce the transformation, urging collaboration between national and subnational authorities.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, in opening remarks, described the summit as confirmation of Lagos’s status as an “investment-ready” gateway to Africa and credited President Tinubu with laying the foundation for the state’s resurgence.
He outlined his administration’s work across agriculture, health, transport, energy and technology as evidence of the state’s readiness for private-sector partnerships.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele said the administration’s reforms have helped re-establish Lagos as a leading example of subnational development.
He said the government’s decisions over the past two years have begun to address structural problems in the economy and are yielding signs of resilience across sectors.
Folashade Bada, Lagos Commissioner for commerce and investment, assured investors the state would maintain a conducive business environment.
Shirley Botchwey, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, called Lagos not just a city of potential but “one of proof.”
Representatives from the African Development and trade community, including Afrexim Bank and the AfCFTA secretariat, underscored ongoing financing commitments and the need for pan-African infrastructure and entrepreneurship to sustain growth.
The summit’s opening also included a governors’ fireside chat featuring leaders from Plateau, Nasarawa, Imo, Lagos and Abia states, underscoring a broader drive toward subnational-led development as a vehicle for national economic expansion.
