Lagos Free Zone is a constituent company of the
Singapore-based conglomerate, Tolaram, which is focused on investing in
emerging market opportunities that propel growth and elevate communities and
has a diverse portfolio of businesses in Consumer Products, Fintech, and
Infrastructure across the emerging markets of Asia, Africa, and beyond.
In his remarks on the award, the Chief Executive Officer,
Lagos Free Zone, Dinesh Rathi, said, “We are delighted to be honoured with this
prestigious award that acknowledges the advantage of Lagos Free Zone being
situated in the heart of Nigeria with easy access to emerging economies, and
the top-tier facilities and services that have put LFZ in a league of its own.”
Rathi explained that LFZ is the first and only free zone in
Nigeria that is uniquely integrated with the deepest seaport in the region, the
upcoming Lekki deep-sea port, scheduled to commence operations in the last
quarter of 2022. Therefore, LFZ offers a unique location that will provide
tenants with a seamless and cost-efficient access to domestic, regional and
international markets.”
He further revealed that the zone, established in the year
2012, has been promoted by Tolaram, a leading conglomerate with a 15,000-strong
workforce and 19 manufacturing facilities in Nigeria, five of which are located
in the LFZ.
Also speaking on the award, Tejaswi Avasarala, who leads the
strategic marketing initiatives for LFZ, revealed that LFZ’s existing tenants
included global brands such as Colgate Palmolive, Kellogg’s, Arla, Indofoods
and BASF.
“LFZ has enjoyed their continued patronage since it offers a
unique combination of critical success factors such as access to the
deepest-sea port in the region, world-class infrastructure, facilities and
services; and above all, a holistic work-live-play ecosystem that allows for
global brands to thrive in Nigeria and West Africa,” Tejaswi said.
fDi’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2021 highlighted the
best practices of some of the world’s most successful free zones. Six independent
judges – four external and two from the fDi team – assessed the 70 zones that
had submitted their entries this year.
fDi had this to say about the Highly Commended Award winner:
“Developed by the Singapore-based Tolaram group, the Lagos Free Zone has put
together a compelling case this year. It is tying its fortunes to those of the
integrated Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is scheduled to come online by the end of
2022 after the project achieved financial closing in March 2020.
“Lagos Free Zone is already home to several major tenants,
such as Colgate, BASF and Kellogg’s, and its grand ambition is to develop an
area extending over 830 hectares (ha). Occupied space currently stands at
around 130 ha. The zone has provided a dynamic response to support its tenants
in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, making existing leases more flexible and
working with local authorities to secure Covid-19 vaccinations for eligible and
willing tenants in a country where just 0.8% of the population was fully
vaccinated.
The Lagos Free Zone has also shown long-term strategic
thinking as it reprioritised its priority industry sub-sectors as the world
moved towards shorter supply chains. For instance, the zone identified
pharmaceuticals and medical consumables as priority sub-sectors and therefore
tailored its marketing outreach focused on these segments. It also made
available virtual reality tours for interested parties not capable of
travelling to the region.”
“On the environmental, societal and corporate governance
front, the zone established a centre of excellence for sustainability
management consisting of a dedicated team under the leadership of the chief
sustainability officer, who directly reports to the CEO. The zone also
introduced a zero-tolerance policy against any discrimination because of
gender, age, race, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, religion or
disability” fDi further added.
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