Thirty-three states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have signed the World Bank Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) to support the States Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Programme, aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, disclosed this on Monday while opening a sensitization workshop on SABER in Abuja. She revealed that 28 states recently received between $1 million and $4 million each as part of a $68.36 million disbursement under the programme.

Jafiya noted that arrangements have been finalized for an Independent Verification Firm to assess 2023 and 2024 performance results. She highlighted key achievements from previous reforms, including:

    •    Improved transparency in business-government relations.
    •    Optimized land acquisition processes for investment.
    •    Strengthened grievance redress mechanisms (GRM).
    •    Enhanced Public-Private Partnership (PPP) frameworks.
    •    Reduced cost of fiber optic deployment to boost business efficiency.

She acknowledged the World Bank, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), and the Federal Debt Management Office (DMO) for their role in financing, technical advisory, and programme design.

In his address, Dr. Ali Mohammed, Director of Home Finance, explained that the workshop aims to evaluate successes and challenges from the past two years and strategize for the third year of the three-year (2023–2025) $750 million SABER Programme for Results (PforR).

Dr. Mohammed, who also serves as National Programme Coordinator, emphasized that SABER builds on the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme, which improved fiscal governance at the sub-national level.

Under the SABER initiative, disbursements will be on-lent to states annually upon verification that they have successfully implemented the required reforms. These reforms include:

    •    Enhancing land administration efficiency.
    •    Strengthening regulatory frameworks for fiber optic deployment.
    •    Improving investment promotion agencies and PPP units.
    •    Boosting transparency and efficiency in government-to-business services.

Dr. Mohammed urged participating states to actively engage in the five-day sensitization meeting to better understand the programme and collaborate on overcoming challenges. He emphasized that successful implementation will attract local and foreign investments, create jobs, and drive economic growth, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.