FG targets medium-scale businesses in new intervention programme

The Federal Government, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Secretariat, has launched an intervention programme targeted at large and medium-scale businesses.

The PEBEC Business Champions Programme is one of the Council’s five strategic pillars for 2024.

Speaking on the new intervention, the Special Adviser to the President of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said the two-part programme at the initial stage, will work with medium-sized enterprises and have a pilot cohort of about 25 businesses.

“Having worked with MSMEs for over seven years, we realise that while systemic regulatory and judicial interventions are important, strategically, we must be more targeted to deliver faster results.

“This intervention will be a bespoke service to help these medium businesses navigate the business climate from the government’s perspective. The selection of businesses will be determined by factors such as revenue, tax contributions, job creation, sectors and export proceeds,” she said.

She further disclosed that there are only 23 companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue in Nigeria and that the intervention will also target these companies.

“It was determined that we will need to have this new approach to move faster and to grow the economy faster in these turbulent times,” she said.

Oduwole identified the five strategic pillars that PEBEC is working with to include the Business Facilitation Act of 2022, signed into law in February 2023 the Act is a codification of Executive Order No. 001 from 2017; and the Sub-national interventions, such as the World Bank’s State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Program-for-Results, currently entering its second year of implementation.

Oduwole also noted that with the legislative intervention, there will be a further review of the Omnibus bill, emphasising the collaborative efforts of over 40 law firms nationwide who volunteered their expertise pro bono to review approximately 21 business laws, culminating in the formation of the 2022 Omnibus bill.

With the judicial intervention, she highlighted the council’s ongoing collaboration with state judiciaries to streamline the establishment of additional Small Claims Courts.

She pointed out that at the commencement of 2023, only eight states in Nigeria established small claims courts, but by the year’s end, the number had surged to 25.

She emphasised the need for Strategic Communications interventions to disseminate information about the reforms, ensuring widespread awareness and comprehension among businesses and key stakeholders across Nigeria.