Lagos Business School (LBS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lagos State Government (LASG) on a project to make Lagos a model mega city for Africa. The MOU was signed this week by Dean of LBS, Dr Enase Okonedo and the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Raji Fashola at the Governor’s office.
The agreement was entered into as a result of both parties recognising the need to drive the competitiveness of Lagos.
According to Dr Okonedo, there has been an awakened interest in Africa for big businesses, so it becomes imperative to make Lagos attractive for investment and safe for the people who live in it.
“We are very pleased to contribute to the development efforts of Lagos State. Beyond the name we share, we also share in the aspirations to make Lagos Africa’s model mega city”, she said.
 |
| Dr Enase Okonedo (LBS) signing MOU with Governor Raji Fashola |
The Centre for Competitiveness and Strategy (CCS), a new research centre established in LBS, will function as a knowledge partner of the LASG in the area of competitiveness to help provide insight that would drive policy actions towards this goal.
The Centre, which is headed by LBS faculty and Director of Research Dr Tunji Adegbesan, also aims to become Africa’s foremost knowledge hub for information on competitiveness and strategy.
In his remarks, Governor Fashola said his government was willing to open up to LBS for research in order to develop policies that were useful to the people.
“As Nigeria’s business and commercial capital, it is a pleasure to host LBS. We expect to share from the knowledge and experience and benefit from the human capital that exists there,” he said.
Under the agreement, the Lagos Mega City Competitiveness Programme will be implemented. This programme will, among other things, develop competitiveness studies of ten sectors, where research will be conducted to determine the current position of these sectors compared with selected cities around the world, and propose policy recommendations as well as track development and progress.
The CCS will also develop case studies examining the successes and challenges of the State Government towards the competitiveness goals. The case studies will add to a knowledge pool on public sector governance.
LBS is dedicated to creating and transmitting business and management knowledge relevant to emerging markets. The CCS and the partnership with the Lagos State Government are some of the new initiatives in line with the LBS mission.
