FG, LASG Commit To Ease Of Doing Business, Infrastructure Readiness

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Lagos State government have reaffirmed their commitments to fostering a conducive environment for businesses to grow and thrive in the country.

The commitments were expressed at the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Technical Session and Statewide Town Hall Meeting organised by PEBEC in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Bada-Ambrose, described Lagos as a state that understands the need to institutionalise reforms and recognises that prosperity cannot be built on potential alone.

Ambrose affirmed that Lagos has embraced the SABER framework as a transformative vehicle for governance reform, private sector engagement, and economic inclusion.

“Reforms must be constructed upon policy clarity, infrastructure readiness, regulatory transparency, and unwavering public-private cooperation. SABER, spearheaded by PEBEC in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Debt Management Office, and the World Bank, offers a strategic framework to standardise and localise ease-of-doing-business reforms across all subnational governments because reform must be context-sensitive. It must reach the woman selling textiles in Balogun, the baker in Ikorodu navigating multiple levies, the startup founder in Yaba building block chain-based health solutions, the farmer in Epe exporting processed palm oil, and the young cooperative society in Ijede seeking access to patient capital,” she said.

According to the commissioner, Lagos’ response to SABER has been robust, ambitious, and fully aligned with the state’s long-term strategic plans, such as the ongoing development of the Lagos State Industrial Policy (LSIP 2025–2030), the T.H.E.M.E.S+ Development Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, and the Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP) 2052.

In her speech, the Director General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, explained that states’ policies affect businesses. She added that a partnership between the states and PEBEC would enable the government and stakeholders to adapt, enhance, and strengthen the regulatory environment, particularly through the SABER programme.

She said, “The goal of PEBEC is to work with the states and ensure all hands are on deck to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration in fostering a conducive business environment that drives more innovation and growth.

“The overriding goal is trade facilitation and the Federal Government is doing a lot like reducing customs inspection of goods to one day and addressing multiple taxation, levies and fees, among others.’’