Hi People, still buzzing from the binky my son's pet rabbit, Bolt (named after Usain Bolt) just did. It was so high up it was incredible!! Talking about speed and delight African countries are growing fast economically as well as in size and so infrastructural development is so important in keeping up with the pace of growth and aiding in the expansion of these economies.

The building up of infrastructure in any economy drives employment creation and sparks the charge for further investment. These are capital intensive projects and the offshoot of these projects whether they be building bridges, highways, transportation systems, schools, hospitals or whatever the case may be is that they create more jobs and therefore more people are earning money to pay for goods and services and hopefully taxes!!  A good example of infrastructural development is Lagos State in Nigeria, where the government has created the Lekki Free Trade Zone and is in the full swing of construction, with mainly Chinese, European and South African investors. It will be a completely new urban development with an international airport in a very desirable area of Lagos by the ocean. For more information check out LFZDC

In another development on the infrastructure front the Lagos State government is set to begin the second light rail project.

 Lagos set to begin second light rail project

May 27, 2012 by Rasheed Bisiriyu 

The Lagos State Government has begun talks with the preferred bidder of second light rail line, a 32km Agbado-Marine rail, known as the red line.


This followed the advanced work already attained on the first line, a 27km Okokomaiko-Marina (blue line), being constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.


The Director- General, Public Private Partnerships, Lagos State, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, made this known during an interactive session with a Japanese trade mission to the state.


A statement by the PPP office on Friday also reported the director-general to have expressed the commitment of the state government to the provision of public infrastructure.


He said negotiation was ongoing with the firm, which he did not name, on the development of the 32km light rail metro transportation (red line).


Gbeleyi said the contract would cover the provision of rolling stocks as well as the operation and maintenance of the line when commercial closure was eventually attained.


Gbeleyi, who is also a special adviser to the state governor, said the project would considerably ease traffic congestion in Lagos metropolis when fully on-stream.


According to him, an average of 400,000 passengers would be conveyed daily.


“Also, the project is expected to generate over 8,000 jobs through direct and indirect employment opportunities,” he added.


According to him, construction work is rapidly progressing on 27km blue line (from Okokomaiko to Marina), with construction works on the first Phase from National Theatre to Mile 2, while the contract for the construction of the second phase from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko has been awarded to CCECC.


He also said negotiation for the operation and maintenance of the rail line, including rolling stocks, had commenced.


The state government had given end of this year as the completion time for the blue line; no date had been fixed yet for the red line.


He assured prospective investors of secured and profitable investment in the state.


Gbeleyi said the state required infrastructure investment of about $50bn and thus looked beyond internally generated revenue, debt issuance programme and multilateral financing to public-private partnership as a public finance instrument of bridging infrastructural gap.


He also said the state was gradually broadening the PPP market in the country, with successful projects such as the Bus Rapid Transit, Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Road Concession, Independent Power projects, shopping malls and urban markets, as well as the management and maintenance of a number of health facilities.


He said that the state government had put in place the necessary legal and regulatory framework to make PPP thrive.


Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu, urged the Japanese investors to take advantage of various incentives such as tax holiday, 100 per cent foreign ownership and repatriation, as well as waivers on all import and export licences, to invest in Lekki Free Trade Zone.

http://www.punchng.com/business/lagos-set-to-begin-second-light-rail-project/

Lagos Light Rail Courtesy of nidf.blogspot.com.au/