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Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to building stronger, investment-driven economy through sustained collaboration with state governments.
Director-General, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu gave the assurance on Wednesday in Awka, Anambra state at the PEBEC Nationwide Subnational Engagement and Technical Reform Workshop on Business-Enabling Reforms and Investment Competitiveness.
She stressed that Nigeria’s economic prosperity would only be achieved through coordinated reforms across all levels of government.
“The future of Nigeria’s economy will not be determined in Abuja alone but in various states, cities, industrial clusters, farms, innovation hubs and local governments. Strengthening subnational competitiveness is no longer optional, but imperative,” she added.
According to Audu, the engagement tour was designed to strengthen partnerships between Federal and state governments, while promoting reforms capable of unlocking Nigeria’s vast investment potential and improving business competitiveness.
While explaining that the competition for investments has increasingly shifted from countries to states, cities and regions, the DG stressed that targeted reforms aimed at improving the investment climate have proven effective in increasing investment inflows and creating sustainable jobs.
“Every state in Nigeria possesses unique comparative advantages ranging from agriculture and manufacturing to logistics, tourism, mineral resources and technology ecosystems, but emphasized that the challenge lies in proper positioning,” she added.
Audu warned against tendency of states trying to market every sector simultaneously, arguing that global experience showed that successful investment destinations concentrated on a few sectors where they possessed genuine competitive advantages.
“States must make deliberate choices. They must identify sectors where they can compete effectively, invest strategically, remove barriers to growth and communicate those opportunities consistently to the world. Priority attracts capital, focus attracts investors and execution sustains investment,” she said.
The PEBEC boss further underscored the growing importance of digital visibility in attracting investments, noting that prospective investors often begin evaluating opportunities online before physically visiting destinations.
Earlier, Secretary to Anambra State Government, Chiamaka Nnake reassured state government’s commitment to improving the ease of doing business in the state.
“State government has over the past four years, been focused on improving the ease of doing business in the state.
“The vision is to make Anambra the best place to live, work and enjoy, as well as a preferred choice for investment.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Chukwukadibia Okoye described state government as the greatest marketer of the state’s potential, saying the workshop offered opportunity to unleash numerous achievements of the state.
“This forum provides a veritable opportunity for the government to showcase what it had done, with a view to eliciting the trust and support of investors.
“One of such achievements is in the area of security, where the government is not just fighting crime, but also directing efforts at tackling the negative mindset that is driving crime,” he added.
In his presentation, the reform leader at the PEBEC Secretariat, Gabriel Oyemi canvassed for subnational governments to harmonize their levies, fees and regulatory charges, which he said, would help build trust among the populace and reduce pilfering of government revenue.
While stressing the need for legal backing for every levy collected by government, Oyemi urged subnational governments to work towards entrenching predictable investment environment in their states, and digitizing their processes.
“The government must also establish the Grievance Redress Mechanism, GRN, dedicated to addressing issues that arise in the running of government processes as well as ensure all complaints are addressed promptly and expeditiously,” he said.
On her part, member of the PEBEC team, Barr Ifunanya Chidi disclosed existence of Small Claims Courts, SCC in three jurisdictional locations across the state, to address issues arising from business transactions between the range of N5 million to N10 million.
She emphasized the need for business owners, especially traders, to take advantage of the courts to resolve their business transaction issues.
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