The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Lagos State government have pledged to improve on the creation of a friendly business environment for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), while also supporting young entrepreneurs in several ways.
The disclosure was the crux of discussion at the official launch of the flagship subnational tour of PEBEC held in Lagos, recently. The event was witnessed by the business leaders, state officials and representatives of federal and state government departments and agencies.
Themed Lituation, the launch focused on highlighting several economic reforms engineered by the council since July, 2016, to transform Nigeria’s business environment, while also revealing a sub-national tour of the six geo-political zones with a view to offering entrepreneurs and other stakeholders opportunity to collaborate more closely.
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Jumoke Oduwole, “the next level for us presents itself as the need to deliver measurable results and impact in the improvement of regulatory, bureaucratic and legislative environments for businesses operating in Nigeria, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises, so that you not only thrive, but are able to compete favourably with counterparts globally”.
Delivering the keynote address, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, lauded the strength of the young Nigerian entrepreneurs, describing their efforts as crucial to economic growth for the country. Sanwo-Olu, however, pledged continued support for small business owners in the state.
Speaking on the effect of the Council’s reforms, Founder, Farmcrowdy, Onyema Akumah, explained that his company has empowered over 70,000 farmers through technology in three years, due to the ease of doing business. Akumah stated that investors can now easily come into Nigeria and locate companies across the country on the map due to improved e-registration by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Over three years, the Council, through the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), has successfully implemented more than 140 reforms, all geared towards making doing business easier for Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises, which make over 90 per cent of registered businesses in Nigeria, contributing close to 50 percent to the country’s GDP.
