Analysts have said millions of ideas are brought-in-dead (BID) right from the stage of thinking about how to tackle the challenges surrounding issues of registration, approval from relevant regulatory bodies, promotion of products, familiarity with the system of taxation and the biggest of them all; access to funding.
And that also explains one of the reasons the Ogun State government under the leadership of Prince Dapo Abiodun is now focused on improving on its performance in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business sub-national Index, making sure that issues that can aid or hinder the ability to start and grow a business are addressed.
The last World Bank Ease of Doing Business sub-national Index, which is the 2018 sub-national index, was measured based on four indicators namely; starting a business, dealing with construction permit, registration property and enforcing contract.
According to the 2018 Index, Ogun’s best performance among the four Indicators is in the Starting a Business Indicator, where she placed fourth. Although fourth among 36 States on the ‘Starting a business’ Indicator is not so bad but it is certainly not the kind of position that can aid Ogun maintain its lead as the most industrialized in the country especially as States are in a race to usurp one another.
In the sub-national Index, in terms of ‘Dealing with construction permit’ the State placed 11th according to the 2018 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index. In terms of Registration Property Indicator, the State is 28th while in the area of Enforcing Contract it is 20th.
Now the present administration in the State wants that narrative to change. By 2022, Ogun wants to become the best among the comity of States in the area of starting a business, at least the top 5 in dealing with construction permit and in terms of registration of property as well as enforcements of contracts.
Apart from working on provision of infrastructure and adequate security for business to thrive, the State has also adopted a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement working harmoniously with the legislature to give legal backing to the policy. Governor Abiodun has also approved the establishment of Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, a one-stop shop which will ensure investors gain access to information on the natural and solid mineral deposits in the State including opportunities for investment which many may not have discovered.
Determined to ensure that its drive is not only felt by the big organisations, the government has also established the Ogun State Enterprise Development Agency to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by facilitating all available intervention funds from the Federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as boost MSMEs capacities as major producers of raw materials. The government has also created the Business Environment Council to improve the State’s rating on the World Bank sub-national index on the ease of doing business as it would streamline the process associated with registration of businesses in the State.
It is also in view of the Governor’s agenda on the ease of doing business, which resulted in the first phase of MSMEs Business Clinic which held across the three Senatorial Districts.
And in just one day across the three senatorial districts, no fewer than 553 businesses became registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and 2,067 business accounts were opened for the purpose of accessing loans at special rates as low as 3 percent interest rate across the three senatorial districts. 12 Micro finance banks gave out loans as low as 3 percent interest rate while Commercial banks such as Zenith Bank gave out loans with interest as low as nine percent with Access Bank focusing on women.
The MSMEs business Clinic which attracted thousands of established and intending entrepreneurs has been a one-stop shop that brought all agencies relevant to the establishment and growth of a business under one roof to address any complaint raised by beneficiaries.
The Business Clinic brought together various organizations such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), National Agency for Food and Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Federal Inland Service (FIRS), Ogun State Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to mention a few under one roof.
At the Business Clinic the government gave a boost to MSMEs as over 3,000 businesses became members of various Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) .
Olawale Osunbiyi,
Abeokuta,
such as the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Association of Small scale Business Owners (ASBON), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) and the Ogun State Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) for free courtesy of the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration in the State.
It is therefore not surprising when one of the Business Membership Organisations, Association of Small-scale Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), honoured the governor for his administration’s support for small businesses as the ‘SME Most Supportive Governor of the year 2019 ’ while the Ogun Sate Ministry of Commerce and Industry emerged the ‘SME Most Supportive State Ministry of the Year 2019’. Even the effort of the Consultant to the Governor on Commerce and Industry, Ms. Sola Arobieke did not go unnoticed as she won the ‘SME Most Supportive Public Officer of the Year 2019’.
The Governor and other 12 award recipients must however remember the words of the National President of ASBON, Dr. Femi Egbesola during the presentation that the award is a means of encouraging them to do more. They should do more to help business thrive in the State.
Beyond the award, intending entrepreneurs will do themselves a lot of good by grabbing various opportunities made available by the present administration to start their businesses as it is expected that in no distant future testimonies of these government effort would start emanating.
Olawale Osunbiyi, writes-in from Kobape Road, Abeokuta.07037238254 [email protected]