The Managing Director of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi has said that respect and equality are key to successful and sustainable partnerships, in any business environment but particularly in high growth low income market.
Jadesimi who stated this at the just concluded P4G 2018 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark where she was one of the opening speakers on a high level panel noted that we need to have equitable partnerships between local/international companies and between private and public sector. Respect and equitability is key to successful and sustainable partnerships.
Other members of the panel included the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Kokke Rasmussen; Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali; President and CEO World Economic Forum, Borge Brende; and the Founder and CEO of Africa GreenCo, Ana Hajduka.
LADOL Public Relations Officer (PRO), Olakunle Kalejaye in a statement made available to Maritime Bits, quotedJadesimi urging P4G to support a universally accepted rating/benchmarking system for sustainability that will enable investors to include sustainability in credit rating analysis as a key criterion.
According to the statement, sustainability equals profitability, therefore highly sustainable companies should get funding. Even if sustainable companies do not meet the currently popular but highly restrictive and negative yielding definitions of bankability, this new benchmark would ensure that the right companies get funding and that their investors benefit from higher returns. Private indigenous companies in high growth / low income countries are suitable investment vehicles.
Her words: “Investors in NYC are tired of having to invest in negative yielding assets and we now know that sustainability equals profitability – so this type of benchmarking will grow the markets and truly enable us all to do well by doing good”.
“Going forward LADOL will be diversifying and targeting a range of clients from agriculture to general manufacturing. We want to attract the brightest companies and people into LADOL to partner, engineer and manufacture new industrial solutions for the world’s fastest growing markets. That is countries in Africa”.
On the AU, she reiterated her strong commitment to regional African collaboration pointing out that: “I believe in a strong United Free market AU, where African countries collaborate to build our local markets by sharing ideas, people, resources and markets. Strong Governments in African countries and indigenous private companies will then be in a position to form equitable international partnerships, based on an alignment of incentives, mutual respect and shared long-term vision.”
She argued that innovation must be done in our local markets, even as she pointed out that LADOL is investing in creating an environment where a wide range of local entrepreneurs, engineers and innovators can design solutions in Nigeria for Nigeria.
She also disclosed that LADOL is partnering through P4G with Systemic to develop SEZ in two other African countries namely Ethiopia and Kenya.
“Let’s industrialise Africa”, she declared.
