Nasarawa to meet criterion for accessing SABER intervention funds

Nasarawa State government says it would accelerate all processes required to meet the criterion for accessing State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) intervention funds.

Managing Director, Nasarawa State Investment and Development Agency, (NASIDA),  Ibrahim Abdullahi gave the assurance at a high-level stakeholders engagement meeting in Lafia, the state capital.

The high-level engagement meeting, which was initiated by NASIDA in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Environment Council (PEBC), is designed to engage Chief executives, technical officers of business-related MDA’s,  Lawmakers on Capital Market, commerce and industry on how to chat a more positive way forward on government business reform.

The SABER programme is a three-year (January 2023 to December 2025) performance-based intervention jointly designed by the World Bank and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Secretariat with support from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat.

The programme seeks to provide additional incentives, such as using results-based financing targeted at improving the business environment and facilitating the crowding-in of private sector investments at scale.

The eligibility criteria for the programme include developing an annual action plan with private sector collaborators to be approved by the State Executive Council (SEC) and published online.

This proposed $750m lending operation will last from 2023-2025 and consists of: a $730m performance-based financing component for state governments, which will be implemented as a Program-for-Results and a $20m Technical Assistance component which will be implemented as Investment Project Financing to support implementation and capacity building.

The disbursement will be in line with certain disbursement-linked indicators, which means the states are meant to achieve certain criteria to be qualified for each disbursement under this programme.

Abdullahi said the state government through NASDA has already put in place the enabling environment to meet the criterion for accessing SABER intervention funds, adding that all the MDAs would be encouraged to strive to achieve the new challenges.

According to him, creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive is a key priority of the present administration, adding that Governor Abdullahi Sule through NASDA, has initiated far-reaching reforms to ensure an improved business climate to attract new investments and encourage existing businesses to expand.

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“Nasarawa Means Business is the motto that sets the tone for action for robust efforts in the ease of doing business in the pursuit and achievement of clear targets with impactful outcomes that are capable of boosting investors’ confidence in the State, and as well, generate job opportunities for our teeming youths,” he noted.

He urged the MDAs s to work as a team and in a direction with the government’s desire to create and ensure enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state.