Ekiti State Government says it has met the criteria to benefit from the $750 million International Development Association (IDA) credit made available to states under the World Bank State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Programme.
The State Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, made this known in Ado Ekiti while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting.
Olatunbosun explained that the SABER is a three-year (2023-2025) performance-based intervention jointly designed by the World Bank and the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC) Secretariat, with support from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget
& National Planning (FMFBNP), the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), and
the State Commissioners for Finance Forum of Nigeria.
He added that SABER was designed as a Programme-for-Results
(PforR) similar to the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and
Sustainability (SFTAS) to motivate and strengthen the implementation of business enabling reforms across the 36 states and the FCT.
It is also aimed at further consolidating and deepening gains from the implementation of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) reforms across the states, improve business environment of participating states and improve accountability of business enabling reforms.
The commissioner highlighted the eight disbursement links indicators (DLIs) of the programme to include improved transparency and sustainability in property registration and land investment process, improved
business-enabling infrastructure, development of an effective PPP
framework for states and improved investment promotion environment.
He listed other DLIs as increased transparency of official fees and procedures, improved domestic and external trade competitiveness, simplification of state and local business tax regimes and quick determination of commercial disputes.
