• WINNER: Sub-Saharan African regional free zones
• WINNER: Large Tenants award for Africa
• HIGHLY COMMENDED as African Free Zone of the year
• COMMENDED for self-sufficiency
• COMMENDED for infrastructure improvements

LADOL, the high value industrial village and Free Zone, built around a specialised port on an island at the point of entry into Lagos harbour, has been awarded Winner of the Sub-Saharan African regional free zones award and Winner of the Large Tenants award for Africa, in fDi magazine’s Global Free Zones of the Year 2015. LADOL was also Highly Commended as African Free Zone of the year.

Winning the Large Tenants award, LADOL Free Zone was praised for increasing some 37.5% capacity between 2013 and 2014. Due to the high specification infrastructure, round the clock operations and focus on delivering transparent reliable service to the Deep Offshore oil and gas market, LADOL has been able to halve the cost of logistics support in Nigeria. This 50% cost saving comes despite the fact that the facilities and equipment are all brand new.
Two awards given to LADOL, which are ‘Commendation for self-sufficiency’, and ‘Commendation for infrastructure improvements’, are being given for the first time and reflect improvements such as the ongoing development of its new 24 MW power plant, due to come online in late 2017.

fDi’s Global Free Zones of the Year celebrates those zones that are best in class and which are reinvesting, expanding or upgrading.

Dr Amy Jadesimi, LADOL Managing Director, said: “The fDi awards review free zones from across the world, and for LADOL to receive these awards and be recognised in this way is a testament to the great work that the local team has done in putting our free zone on par with the world’s best. LADOL is proud to be one of many significant infrastructure projects in the region that is changing the dynamic of the Nigerian economy, and facilitating business domestically and attracting business from international markets.”

The $500 million LADOL Free Zone, is a newly developed village, to which access is strictly controlled. The infrastructure in the Zone is amongst the most robust and secure in West Africa, making it an ideal environment for industrial activities that could not be done in West Africa before – from offshore oil and gas mega-fabrication and vessel integration, to pipe coating, engineering and agricultural processing.

LADOL is the only Free Zone that truly runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, ensuring that tenants can maximise their efficiency and output, in a safe controlled environment.

Samsung Heavy Industries recently started fabrication in the Zone and it will soon be joined by a range of other fabrication and engineering companies.

A growing number of international and local companies are now setting up their own facilities in LADOL’s Free Zone, and benefiting from hassle free, low cost access to the largest market in Africa (Nigeria) and the entire West African region. Part of LADOL’s success – as highlighted by the fDi awards – is due to a combination of committed long-term private local investors, who built the infrastructure and facilities, and the investment and partnerships with international companies who want to be part of the world’s next big growth story in West Africa.