The Edo State Ease of Doing Business Council has adopted the State Business Enabling Reforms Action Plan (BERAP) 2023 which was approved by the State Executive Council on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
The Business Enabling Reforms Action Plan (BERAP) was drafted by the Edo State Ease of Doing Business Secretariat as a framework to enable the State to implement the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER), a program set up by the Edo State government in response to the Federal Government’s collaboration with the World Bank to provide incentives to State Governments to encourage the deepening of business environment reforms.
BERAP’s objective is to provide the framework to enable Edo State to improve access to information and entrench transparency of government processes; strengthen the regulatory environment for businesses; raise the standard of infrastructure and security for local businesses; provide Regulatory Impact Assessment; implement the Edo State Power Sector Reforms Law; increase public patronage of the Edo Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Fund; amongst others.
Announcing the Council’s adoption of the BERAP shortly after its first meeting for the year, the Secretary to the Council and Managing Director of the Edo State Investment Promotion Office, Mr. Kelvin Uwaibi told journalists that the Council agreed that the secretariat will now clearly lay out the action plans for each MDA with targets and expected outcomes and communicate such to the MDAs.
Uwaibi noted that after the state fell short of its targeted EoDB ranking in 2018, the Ease of Doing Business Council was set up to ensure that Edo State becomes the number one destination for investment in Nigeria.
“Governor Godwin Obaseki has given us a mandate that is very clear. We know what each government agency is tasked with and what we hope to achieve as a whole when the tasks are completed correctly and in a timely fashion.
“Ultimately, we are reforming our business regulatory environment to provide above optimum services for investors to make them feel happy and confident about doing business in Edo State.
“We also want investors to know that Edo means business and the EoDB Secretariat available for every investor to approach to answer any questions they may have about investing in Edo.
“Our email address invest@edostate.gov.ng has been open since last year for investors to submit their inquiries. We are available round the clock to respond to them and provide the guidance they may require.” Uwaibi said.
The Council held its meeting in the conference room of the Secretary to the State Government, with the the Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwole Iyamu (SAN) standing in for the Chairman Mr Joseph Eboigbe, who is also the Commissioner for Finance.
While inaugurating the Council in March 2022, Governor Obaseki said: “For any state to survive going into the future, you must have enough businesses that can pay taxes from which you can derive revenues. For businesses to be able to do well based on which you will now collect taxes, the environment for them to do well must be conducive.
“You must create an environment where businesses will thrive. Let’s take transportation for instance, if your roads are not good, and drivers don’t meet up with their desired targets, you cannot collect enough taxes.
“If it’s the manufacturer that cannot have access to reasonable electricity cost, how are they going to make profits? How are they going to pay taxes? How are they going to increase the number of staff in their workforce? So, the purpose of the government is to create an environment for people to do well.
Hence, the EoDB Council was set up to set reform targets and oversee the implementation of the reforms; resolve bottlenecks arising from the operations of government agencies; communicate the reform agenda to all stakeholders within government and in the business community; and conduct monthly meetings to provide oversight on the activities of MDAs involved in the EoDB drive.
