Lagos Free Zone (LFZ), the first and only economic free zone in Nigeria to be integrated with the country’s deepest seaport, has announced that one of its most prestigious clients is expanding its Nigerian business by setting up a unique research and manufacturing facility in LFZ.
BASF, one of the world’s leading chemical companies, with over 150 years’ experience across a wide range of industries, is setting up a state-of-the-art circular economy research laboratory and a custom-made production unit for the company’s Waste-2-Chemicals project in LFZ.
Having gone through a pilot phase over the last 18 months, BASF is now expanding and consolidating on its supply chain capabilities in the zone, and lining up investments for local manufacturing, starting with the first demo unit of its flagship project that converts waste into chemicals.
BASF West Africa Limited has been doing business in Nigeria for 55 years, touching millions of lives every day. It has been constantly investing in developing its capabilities, operations, and people through localisation. The company has now taken up the new Standard Industrial Facility at the Lagos Free Zone and considers it the perfect home for the realisation of its growth plan over the next three years.
Taiwo Ilesanmi, Managing Director, BASF Operations LFTZ Enterprise, said: “We believe there is no bigger demonstration of the commitment to Nigeria than the transfer of know-how and enabling local knowledge creation. This means investing in local innovation capabilities by building laboratories, enabling us to design and deploy customized solutions for Nigeria in Nigeria, while supporting academia. BASF in West Africa continues to act as a bridge, deploying global expertise to solve local challenges.
“The Lagos Free Zone offers ease of doing business which enables us to deploy our global and local competencies to unleash growth for our customers. I am personally excited about the deep seaport, Lekki Port, going live in Q4 2022, as this will serve as a gateway to our customers across West Africa, reinforcing our position of being the preferred supplier of choice for our customers.”
Dinesh Rathi, Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Free Zone, added: “We are delighted that BASF, one of our most prestigious international clients, have decided to expand their operations in Nigeria, and taken up our new Standard Industrial Facility for setting up their research laboratory and their flagship Waste-2-Chemicals production unit. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made special efforts to ensure ease of doing business, and to assist our clients in navigating the processes easily through our strong relationships with regulators. “LFZ is the first and only free zone in Nigeria that is uniquely integrated with the deepest seaport in the region, the upcoming Lekki Port, scheduled to commence operations in the last quarter of 2022. LFZ thus offers a unique location that will provide our valued tenants with seamless and cost-efficient access to domestic, regional, and international markets.”
