Lagos State selected to benefit from £38m Mobile Development Programme in Nigeria

United Kingdom (UK) Minister of State for Africa at the Foreign Commonwealth Office who also doubles as Minister of State for Department for International Development, Harriett Baldwin, Tuesday said Lagos State has been selected to benefit from the £38 million extended programme on mobile for development in Nigeria.

Baldwin said the mobile for development programme would enable

a lot of people access financial services through their mobile phones and buy things like solar system for their homes and businesses.

The minister added that the programme would enable women in the market to use the financial services in investing in solar fridges, solar freezers and something that would really help them in their homes, most especially those areas where they don’t have access to reliable electricity.

She said ultimately the programme would help everyone with the ambition to buy health insurance, noting that Lagos State has a lot of investment in technology, the reason the UK Government is siting her science and technology centre in the mega cit

Describing Lagos as amazing and vibrant city, Baldwin noted that the UK Government is willing to learn from some of the state’s innovation and share some of theirs.

The minister, who disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, in Alausa, said the state was selected because of its socio-economic and political significance as the commercial nerve centre of the country and sixth largest economy in Africa.

She pointed out that owing to the significant impact of the programme on the people, the UK government is extending the programme to further affect positively the lives of other 27 million people around the world, including many in Lagos State, noting that the programme was exactly designed to absolutely impact the grassroots.

In his remarks, Hamzat assured the UK team that Lagos State Government is set to collaborate in any area that would be of immense benefit to the good people of the state, stating that the state government would embark on sensitising her citizens to understand the benefits of the programme and take advantage of it.