FG, Nasarawa Strategise On State Economy, Reforms

The federal government, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), is partnering with business owners in Nasarawa State to boost the state’s economy.

Director general of the council, Zahrah Mustapha Audu, disclosed this at a town hall meeting with business stakeholders in Lafia, the state capital yesterday.

She said SABER as a  transformative initiative supports and incentivises reforms at the state level, noting that it also aligned local efforts with the national goal of making Nigeria a more transparent, profitable and easier place to do business.

According to her, the stakeholder engagement was designed to strengthen public sector capacity and capture feedbacks from private sector players as the true engines of economic growth, job creation and innovation.

“Reform is not a federal effort alone. States are the engines of local economic development, and their policies, infrastructure, and service delivery directly impact the ease of doing business in every community,” she stated.

The director general assured that the partnership with states would foster deeper collaboration, rebuild trust and generate practical solutions tailored to each state’s unique business challenges.

Speaking at the occasion, Governor Abdullahi Sule said the state government had initiated a number of reforms aimed at encouraging private businesses to thrive.

Represented by his deputy, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, Governor Sule noted that the land reforms for instance enabled Certificate of Occupancy to be obtained within a month.

He said in his first year in office, he signed more certificates of occupancy than were issued in the state since its creation in 1996.

He noted that his administration had since inception in 2019, prioritised making the state an investment heaven through various initiatives.

The governor added that some of the initiatives include the development of the Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy (NEDS) document, culminating in the establishment of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), a one-stop-shop agency  that helps to guide investors willing to do business in the state.

Other initiatives include the revenue and taxes harmonisation legislation passed by the state assembly, establishment of the Bureau of Public Procurement as well as the Bureau of Statistics.

“Before SABER, Nasarawa State had already entrenched principles to make business establishment very easy for whoever is coming to invest in our state,” he said.