The recently inaugurated Ogun State Business Environment Council (OGBEC) and the Ogun State Business Environment Secretariat, would significantly improve the State’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, as well as attract more domestic and foreign investments from the private sector into the State.
Ogun State Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Kikelomo Longe, stated this in a chat with newsmen in her office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, stating that the Council would create enabling environment for businesses to thrive by removing bureaucratic constraints involved in doing business and using the “pull effect” to attract more investors.
“OGBEC and the Ogun State Business Environment Secretariat will help improve the State’s ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business sub-national index.The Council goes beyond the push strategy. It will dwell on the pull strategy of attracting investors into our dear State, projecting the State as investors’ preferred destination and helping businesses to thrive in a sustainable way. This will also lead to more job opportunities for our youths as well as create wealth”, she said.
Mrs. Longe added that the Council would also improve government’s engagement with potential local and foreign investors, stressing that government was focused on improving its position as the State with the third-highest Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Nigeria, as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2019 Third Quarter Report.
She described OGBEC’s inauguration as timely, considering the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s economy, noting that the Council would carry out its work through six technical workgroups which included; Business Planning (Starting a business); Construction Permits; Registering a Property; Enforcing of Contracts; Payment of Taxes and Selling to Government.
The Ogun State Business Environment Council (OGBEC) is chaired by the Chief Economic Adviser to the Governor, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, while the Head of Service, Mrs. Selimot Ottun, a representative of the State House of Assembly, Ministries of Industry, Trade and Investment, Agriculture, Housing and Lands and Survey are members.
Other agencies included: Urban and Physical Planning, Finance, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Education, Science and Technology; Justice and the Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency.
