Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Carl Michael Gräns, has expressed his country’s commitment to supporting young Nigerians in their bid to achieve remarkable feats.
Speaking on the sideline of the opening of a Swedish Honorary Consulate in Lagos on Thursday, Gräns said many of the new startups in the country were young people who are passionate about development and social change.
According to him, there is a growing number of Nigerians going to study in Sweden, adding that the diplomatic mission will do its best to see educational exchange thrive better.
Gräns said that educational exchange was not only about economic development but in a broader perspective, more about social development.
He said, “Regularly, we get visited by Nigerians who schooled in Sweden and decided to start companies. If these companies are socially profitable, which they usually are, we approve them.”
He said many companies experienced challenges as a result of the pandemic, however, they were able to forge ahead by finding innovative ways to run their affairs.
“The businesses seem to be rather positive for the outlook of 2022.
“We want to continue with our cooperation with different states and also support development, and hopefully, conduct more business in the future.
“Lagos is a very big city but also has great challenges when it comes to traffic and waste management which was one of the topics of the Nordic-Nigeria Connect held last year,” the Ambassador stated.
In 2021, four Nordic countries, comprising Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden pledged their support for the efforts of the Lagos State Government at transforming the megacity into a sustainable smart and green city.
The conference focused on how to develop a circular and smart economy with a specific focus on waste and wastewater management, green energy, and green transportation.
According to Gräns, cooperations and projects are currently ongoing to actualize deliberations from the conference.
“We are hopeful that all business initiatives towards a greener Lagos will turn out well.
“We want to show Swedish and other Nordic companies active and quite successful in green energy that we can cooperate to make Lagos a better place to live.
“It is all about making the environment a better place for the people,” he said.
(NAN)
