By Abdul-Kadir Abdullah and
The Edo State Government is unwavering in its commitment to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the State, especially with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Through robust engagements with private and public stakeholders facilitated by the Ease of Doing Business Secretariat in the Edo State Investment Promotion Office (ESIPO), five key indicators have been identified to boost access to finance and market for businesses and investors in Edo State.Addressing participants at a recent public private dialogue which ESIPO organised in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Managing Director, Mr Kelvin Uwaibi noted that from inception, the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration prioritised businesses with the view of strengthening them to support the State’s economy.
According to him, “If we must make the State’s economy viable, we have no choice than to partner with the private sector. That is the overriding goal of Edo State.
“Recently, the NNPC was made a Limited Liability Company. That means, we are moving to a stage where we can no longer go to Abuja for federal allocation. We now need to get to work to increase revenue, and we can only do that through taxes. So, we cannot get taxes without businesses.” Uwaibi said.
Edo State is positioning its economy to be resilient and Mr. Uwaibi pointed out that many of the pro-business initiatives of the Obaseki administration will be more apparent in the coming years. According to him, “some of us may not appreciate what this administration is doing right now. But I can tell you, 2, 3, 4, 5years from now, all of us will understand what is going on in the State. And let me quote the Governor clearly, we want a situation that whatever is happening to Nigeria, Edo State is okay.
“Why are we particular about access to market? We are also preparing our state for the African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA), trading has commenced in Ghana and Kenya already so, as a State, we are concerned about the manufacturing sector. We want Edo State to be competitive. We want Made in Edo products in the international market. The Commissioner for the Ministry of Business, Trade and Cooperatives is already doing a lot on this.” the ESIPO MD concluded.
In her speech, the GIZ-SEDEN State Coordinator, Blessing Ajimoti, noted that GIZ is interested in supporting the Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in several areas including access to credit and training to make the business environment more friendly especially for small businesses.
According to Ajimoti, “It’s very important that the environment these businesses are operating in is enabling. This is why we are working together in collaboration with the Edo State Investment Promotion Office, ESIPO.
“In this regard, we want the costs, the processes and the policies as they affect businesses, to just be easier. We did not just arrive at this point. There have been a series of engagements on both the government and the private sector sides which some of you attended. The point is for the private sector to engage the government to advocate for some policies. The government of course wants to make sure that the policies produced for businesses are actually informed by the ease of doing business and that is why this collaboration with ESIPO, to bring about that synergy between the Edo State Government and the private sector.” she said.
At the end of the dialogue, the stakeholders resolved that the Edo State Government will work with the private sector strategically in disseminating information on the available business opportunities. The government also committed to training MSMEs and equipping them to qualify for business opportunities in addition to devising a Group-Lending System that can be implemented for MSMEs in the state.
Other resolutions include that the State Government will come up with training plans which would be shared with the private sector groups; the state government collaborating with the private sector to come up with accurate data for MSMEs in the State; collaborating to tackle the lack of adequate storage facilities among others.The dialogue was heavily attended by members of public and private sector groups including the Benin Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BENCCIMA); Bank of Industry (BOI) and Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
