ERGP focus labs achieved 80% success in 3 weeks – Osinbajo

Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria on Thursday declared that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) focus labs has achieved 80% success in 3 weeks.

According to the report from the ministry of budget and national planning, the Vice President expressed satisfaction at the progress of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan focus lab at his visit to the Mid-Lab Syndication meeting in Abuja stating that he was impressed with the organization of the labs and the commitment of all participants towards achieving the overall goal of the exercise.

The focus labs which was launched by the federal government as one of the several initiatives of the government to fast track the attainment of economic growth focuses on Agriculture and transportation, Power and gas, Manufacturing and processing.

To underscore his observation during the gallery walk of the labs, Osinbajo said the leader of the Malaysian consultants working with the ERGP Implementation Team on the labs hinted him that going by his experience in other parts of the world. “We have made remarkable progress and working together we can achieve so much”, he added.

During the launch of the Labs on March 13, 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari, it was indicated that the labs would be targeting an initial $25 billion in investments from the private sector.
The initial labs which are targeting investments in the Agriculture and Transportation, Manufacturing and Processing and Power and Gas sectors, are billed to round up on April 26, 2018.

According to him, though regulatory processes are necessary in order to protect institutions and streamline activities, government appreciates the fact that it is necessary to limit bureaucratic
tendencies so that they do not get in the way of progress; which was why government decided to embark on the labs to address challenges that could stand in the way of investments.

Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, commended the participants for their dedication and resilience noting that it was no mean feat for owners and operators of businesses to leave their duty posts for six weeks of engagement. “The progress we have witnessed during the gallery walk in the various labs reflects the enormous amount of work you have put in the past three weeks”, he said.

Reiterating the essence of the labs, Udoma said they were set up mainly to identify and unlock investments from the private sector by resolving complex inter-agency problems that act as barriers to private sector investments.
“By bringing you, the investors and heads of critical agencies of government, into a confined environment, government is offering you a platform to finalize your business decisions in the fastest possible manner”.

He said “data from the three labs show that in the past three weeks, we are on course to meeting our target of $25 billion investment commitment. So far, we have identified 59 projects that are four and five star. There are several other projects rated one to three star.
We will continue to work with these categories of investors to improve the ratings of their projects to a five star project.”

Udoma further explained that regarding the Power and Gas Lab, progress has been made on issues of issuance of Licenses/Permits in the area of Customs and Excise duties; in funding/potential partnership and other syndication issues; while in the Agriculture and Transport Lab, progress is being made to develop a market driven out-grower scheme that will benefit medium-size farms across the country.

The Minister was optimistic that given the number of projects that are likely to be ready for approval by the end of the lab process, the aim of resolving inter-agency bottlenecks, which is one of the cardinal objectives of the labs, would have been achieved. When consummated, the projects are capable of creating 570,600 jobs.

He also indicated that the Central Working Committee of the Labs, comprising the six sector ministers together with the Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Finance, Justice, the Central Bank Governor and heads of various agencies, is scheduled to meet to consider and resolve some of the challenges already identified during the labs.

 

Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja