…FG Launches Business Champions To Boost Large Medium-scale Businesses
James Nwabueze, Abuja
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has revealed that out of 345 companies with a turn over revenue of $1 billion in Africa (N1 trillion using official exchange rates), only 23 are in Nigeria.
PEBEC made the disclosure in its recently released 2024 Outlook document which also details the Secretariat’s work plan for 2024 along with expected outcomes.
Explaining the outlook, the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing, Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the federal government will roll out interventions this year to make businesses more viable.
“Out of the 345 USD1 billion companies in revenue in Africa, only 23 are in Nigeria. She noted that the decision to change models stems from the observation that larger businesses exhibit an ‘osmosis’ effect, leading to the clustering of stakeholders. She added: “It was determined that we will need to have this new approach to move faster and to grow the economy faster in these turbulent times.”
She said the federal government is set to launch an intervention program tagged the PEBEC Business Champions Program targeted at large and medium-scale businesses which will serve as one of the five strategic pillars PEBEC will be working with this year.
Speaking about the new intervention, she noted: “The Business Champions intervention targets medium to large-sized industries and there are two parts to that programme. The first part is to work with medium-sized enterprises and have a pilot cohort of about 25 businesses. This intervention will be a bespoke service to help these medium businesses navigate the business climate from the government’s perspective. The selection of businesses will be determined by factors such as revenue, tax contributions, job creation, sectors, and export proceeds,” Dr. Oduwole said.
Oduwole also noted that with the legislative intervention, there will be a further review of the Omnibus bill, emphasizing the collaborative efforts of over 40 law firms nationwide who volunteered their expertise pro bono to review approximately 21 business laws, culminating in the formation of the 2022 Omnibus bill.
