Radio TNT 102.5 FM

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said Federal Government will continue to deepen business reforms and partner with the private sector to ensure wholesome national development. He disclosed this, yesterday, at the commissioning of the state-of-the-art Toyota Service and Research Facility in Lagos State.

According to him, “It is important to restate that the Federal Government has committed itself to partner with the private sector, recognising that the private sector is better equipped and resourced to lead the development of the economy.”

The newly commissioned facility is said to be among the first of its kind in West Africa with varied capacity for research, training and skilling.

Restating that this public-private synergy is the crux of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, the Vice President noted that the Buhari administration remains committed to reforms being driven by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).”

He said: “The President has by several directives approvals and executive orders set in motion, and in many cases with the private sector, the most aggressive drive, yet, for appropriate infrastructure, power, roads, rail, and broadband connectivity.

This includes ensuring that our ports work smoothly for trade purposes, building new port complexes and dredging of existing but disused ports, ensuring that government regulators facilitate rather than hinder business operations.

“It is this imperative of aggressively supporting private sector stakeholders that resulted in the 7th iteration of the PEBEC 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 7.0), which commenced on the February 7 and will go on till the April 7, 2022.

“NAP 7.0 aims to deepen the reforms delivered over the past five years with a focus on exports, process automation, improvement in regulatory practices, judicial reforms and Executive Order 01/ReportGov.NG compliance.”

On the NDP 2021-2025, Osinbajo said it is collaboration between the government and the private sector, with an investment commitment of N348 trillion.

He said: “The private sector is expected to invest N298 trillion or about 86 per cent of the projected investments. This simply means that government must create the most favourable environment for private enterprise in Nigeria. This, I am sure you have heard several times, but I must say that this is now absolutely existential for our economy.”

He also noted the ongoing development efforts of the administration in different areas across the country. He said: “We have highlighted key action items in all of the focus areas to ensure that they do not unravel and ensure that we drive sustainability.

Yes, we have reported considerable improvements in the six years since our ease of doing business reforms began, but at the same time, there remains a lot of work to be done. We believe that diligent implementation of these reforms will encourage game-changing private investments such as this state-of-the-art service centre.”