The federal government will start paying out the newly announced $750 million (approximately N324,652,500,000 at the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria) World Bank facility to boost the Business…
This was revealed over the weekend in Abuja during the screening of “The Future is Here,” an independent stage play about ease of doing business. Dr. Jumoke Oduwole is the Special Adviser to the President on the Ease of Doing Business and Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
The grant will be distributed to states that have implemented reforms to increase the ease of doing business through the State Action for Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) initiative.
She stated that while a pilot program for the $750 million will start in December 2022, the full program will launch in January.
Prior to the payment, she claimed, studies on the ease of doing business in each state had been conducted. We also have a report on how easy it is to conduct business nationally. The first baseline survey was conducted last year. The second version of the new survey will be released in one month. Given that all firms have a state of residence, we will use that information to create an action plan for states. To achieve these accomplishments, the state government has partnered with us, she said. She added that because the funds flow to the state government but are still overseen by the FG, there would be a technical help component for the states.
She claimed that the play’s main goal was to inform the public about changes in the field of business accessibility.