The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has presented the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme which was coordinated by the World Bank to the Federal Government.

According to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Lalolu Akande, PEBEC made the presentation during a virtual meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday.

The SABER Program is a 3-year (Jan 2023 – Dec 2025) performance-based intervention jointly designed by the World Bank and the PEBEC Secretariat with support from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat.

The purpose is to incentivise and strengthen the implementation of business enabling reforms in Nigeria specifically across the participating states of the federation and the FCT.

Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday, the Special Adviser on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary of PEBEC, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said: “We have been collaborating for over two years in conceptualizing the SABER Program.

“It is the first programme of this size that the World Bank is embarking on at this scale globally.

“The program is a $750million operation comprising two main areas – $730 million Program-for-Results Financing (PforR) component and $20 million technical assistance for investment project financing,” Oduwole stated.

READ ALSO: 50,000 farmers to get $20m World Bank-support fund in Kano

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed had made a formal request to the World Bank for the preparation of SABER programme with government partners.

This was after a request came from PEBEC, through its Vice Chairman, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, asking for the World Bank’s support for deepening ease of doing business reforms at the sub-national level.

The four main objectives of this PEBEC–NEC Ease of Doing Business intervention are:

“Deepen subnational business-enabling reforms through SABER programme incentives, using result-based financing targeted at improving the business environment.

“Deliver technical assistance to all states to support gaps in reform implementation and provide opportunities for structural development and institutionalisation of reforms across the country leveraging the PEBEC-NEC implementation structure.

“Ride on the back of State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme, which has created a mutual accountability platform between the Federal Government and the States. The SABER will further consolidate and deepen gains from EoDB reforms implemented across the country.

“Facilitate crowding-in private investments at scale, a key requirement for the achievement of Nigeria’s development priorities

Present at the virtual meeting were some of the chairpersons of the Ease of Doing Business Council in various states across the country including Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Governor Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun); Deputy Governors of Abia, Cross River and Kaduna; Secretary to the State Government, Anambra; Federal Ministers who are members of the commission including the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister, Niyi Adebayo; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; and Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.

Other present were the Commissioners of Finance and Economic Development in Ekiti and Ogun states, representatives of governors, other senior government officials, and the World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, Shubaham Chaudhuri.

The Star