As part of their plans to enable economic development through bilateral trade and investment between Nigeria and Malaysia, Asankoko Group paid a courtesy visit to HRM Oba Kamorudeen Ishola Animashaun, the Alaiyeluwa Oloja of Epe and Paramount Ruler of Epe Kingdom, Monday 22 August 2022, while on a tour of Alaro City. Prince Olawale Sulaiman Ayinla, CEO of Asankoko Group, and Mr. Suwardy Abdul Shukor, the Malaysia Trade Commissioner to Nigeria, both of whom did the tour, joined Hon (Princess) Surah Olayemi Animashaun, the Council Mayor of Epe Local Government, to visit the monarch.

While addressing the monarch, Prince Ayinla said there are immense benefits in the creation of good trade and investment relations between Malaysia and Nigeria. “Asankoko Group is the framework designer of bilateral trade and development between Nigeria and Malaysia while Malaysia External Trade Development Commission (MATRADE) is the facilitator, and the focus is on industrialisation of Nigerian assets, and to flag off these efforts, Lagos State is our entry point into Nigeria while Epe is the entry point into Lagos State via the Free Trade Zone project,” he said.

Alaro City, a mixed-use development area located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Epe, spans about 2,000 hectares of land and is within a twenty-minute drive distance to Epe Town. With the new Lekki International Airport and the Deep Seaport projects as well as other infrastructural development ongoing in that axis, Epe is moving towards the new face of the future of Lagos. This underscores Asankoko’s decision to activate bilateral trade and investment between Malaysia and Nigeria to commence with Lagos State and Epe in particular. “Industrialisation of Nigeria assets through Malaysia-Nigeria bilateral Trade, Industry, Tourism, and Investment (TITI) development remains our mission,” Prince Ayinla said.

This initiative also has a strategic connection with Malaysia Traders Market (MTM), a bilateral trade and investment platform in Nigeria that will be a one-stop traders centre for Malaysian products and services in Nigeria under the free trade zones towards the utilisation of Nigerian resources for the economic growth of both nations, Prince Ayinla informed.

Meanwhile, in the preceding month, Asankoko Group was hosted by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities in Malaysia during the maiden edition of the Malaysia International Agricommodity Expo and Summit (MIACES) in Kuala Lumpur. “After series of presentations and stakeholder consultations, Asankoko International (Nig) Limited in collaboration with Asankoko Worldwide Innovative Malaysia Sdn Bdh signed MOUs in areas that have been designed for a progressive impact on trade development between Nigeria and Malaysia while also making Malaysia a hub to Asia industries,” Prince Ayinla disclosed. Some of the business areas include gloves, livestock supplements, drones, waste to energy, solar powered water pumps, solar power products, educational development products, as well as other high tech and infrastructure projects.

•PHOTO: L-R; Prince Olawale Sulaiman Ayinla, CEO of Asankoko Group; Mr. Suwardy Abdul Shukor, the Malaysia Trade Commissioner to Nigeria; and Hon (Princess) Surah Olayemi Animashaun, the Council Mayor of Epe Local Government, during a tour of Alaro City, a mixed-use development area located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Epe, Lagos, Monday 22 August 2022.

Update news