Nigeria plans 21m jobs in 3 years, backed by SABER programme
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria is hoping to change the fortunes of its citizens in just three years on two planks: create 21 million jobs and lift 35 million out of poverty by 2025 through the
$750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme.
The scheme is supported by the World Bank.
The plan was disclosed in Abuja by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) speaking through Presidential Adviser on Ease of Doing Business Jumoke Oduwola.
She said the $750 million is 36 per cent of the $2 billion SABER programme (2022-2025), the aggregate recurrent expenditure of federal and state ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
“The SABER programme is a three-year performance-based intervention jointly designed by the World Bank Technical eam and the PEBEC Secretariat with support from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP) and the Home Finance Department and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat.
“It further gives expression to the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) mandate articulated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP),” she explained, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“The programme was subsequently retained in the National Development Plan (NDP) aimed at generating 21 million full-time jobs and lifting 35 million people out of poverty by 2025.”
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Delivering concrete results
Oduwola said the programme seeks to deliver concrete results across four reform areas with eight disbursement link indicators, including land administration and land investment process, improving business enabling infrastructure, increasing sustainable large-scale investments, and enabling firm operations, per reporting by Nairametrics.
“All participating states and the FCT [Federal Capital Territory] could potentially receive a maximum of $52.5 million during the three-year period.
“In addition to the already-existing PEBEC-NEC subnational intervention, the SABER programme seeks to provide additional incentives, such as using results-based financing targeted at improving the business environment and facilitating crowding in of private sector investments at scale.
“The eligibility criteria for the programme include developing an annual action plan with private sector collaborators to be approved by the State Executive Council (SEC) and published online.
“Recommendations from the second Subnational Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) report, due to be released in October 2022, are also expected to be considered.
PEBEC presented the SABER programme at a PEBEC meeting held on 16 August chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, attended by state EoDB Council chairpersons.
Oduwola disclosed the council has been collaborating with the World Bank since November 2019 to develop the SABER programme which comprises two main areas: $730 million Programme-for-Results (PforR) and $20 million for Technical Assistance.
