Recognising the importance of enterprise and public-private collaboration, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) hosted entrepreneurs and industry stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State and the South-South region to a stakeholder engagement forum on Wednesday, December 4, at the Judiciary Multipurpose Hall, Uyo.
Themed ‘Lituation,’ guests at the event deliberated on the reforms engineered since 2016, especially its alignment with the Council’s mandate to remove bureaucratic constraints and bottlenecks, with a view to reduce cost, time, and procedures required to start and efficiently run businesses in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, Jumoke Oduwole, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Ease of Doing Business and head of the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), said, “Anyone paying even the slightest attention to the news should be acquainted with the Akwa Ibom State government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for rapid industrialisation, investment, entrepreneurship, and human capital development.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem, underscored the importance of SMEs to the state government’s Industrialisation agenda saying, “Healthy SMEs have the potential to alleviate poverty and create employment opportunities for our teeming population. We are interested in SMEs because they are globally recognised as the bedrock of industrialisation”.
Influential personalities who attended the forum are the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Sunday Edet Akpan; Honourable Commissioner of Commerce and Industry, Akwa Ibom State, Ukpong Udo Akpabio, and SSA to President Muhammadu Buhari on public affairs, Ajuri Ngelale.
Other entrepreneurs at the event include Hope Obeten – founder of Calabar Blog, Akan Udom – CEO, Yenne eMarket and Logistics, and Iroghama Ogbeifun-Obuoforibo, CEO, Hairven Limited, verified the impact of the business reforms and other PEBEC initiatives on their bottom-lines directly.
Private sector businesses are implored to table complaints or problems faced with MDAs in carrying on commercial activities on PEBEC’s App, report gov.ng, where they will be processed within 72 hours.
More information about the L.I.T sub-national tour and all the reforms that have been implemented to improve doing-business in Nigeria over the past three years can be found at Business Made Easy, PEBEC’s awareness and educational campaign platform.
