By DADA AYOKHAI
The Edo State government is in the process of carrying out sweeping reforms to improve the ease of doing business in the state.
The Managing Director of the Edo State Investment Promotion Office, ESIPO, Mr. Kelvin UwaIbi, disclosed this in Benin, during a courtesy call on the Edo State chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ.
Mr. Uwaibi stated that the state government is desirous of competing favourably with other states in the country in the ease of doing business, adding the bureaucratic bottlenecks that tend to stifle businesses are being removed one after the other
He stated further that the state government has since taken the bull by its horns and has set up a one-stop shop to help drive the reform process.
Edo State is among the few states in the country known to have made serious concerted efforts at removing the cogs that stand in the way of the ease of doing business
The visit by Mr. Uwaibi to the state NUJ Secretariat in Benin, the Edo State capital, is the first by the helmsman of the Agency.
He was accompanied by some of the Agency’s management staff.
Mr. Uwaibi and his team were warmly received by the state NUJ chairman, Comrade Festus Alehe and other members of the executive
Giving reasons for their visit, Mr. Uwaibi said it was meant to unveil the giant strides recorded by the Agency and to seek ways of collaboration with the Union.
On the one-stop shop, he said the idea is to have everything about business registration and all that not conducted in one place, stressing as soon as it comes on stream, business owners no longer have to visit different government offices but would rather start and finish their business registrations in one place.
He added the ease of doing business reform being proposed would completely eradicate the bureaucratic bottlenecks that tend to stifle businesses as well as make the state receptive to both local and foreign direct investments.
The ESIPO was set up in late 2018 based on the experience of the state governor as a renowned investment banker. The Agency was designed as a special purpose vehicle to provide first-class investment services to both domestic and foreign investors as well as make the state the preferred investment destination in the country.
Mr. Uwaibi revealed that the Agency has recorded a lot of feats since it was established, adding such feats were mainly due to the teamwork between it and sister agencies
He also gave kudos to the state government on its private power initiative, saying the round-the-clock 24-hour power supply has greatly aided business growth and hoped for the situation to be improved upon with the state venturing into the solar system
Uwaibi made allusions to the grand initiative of Gov. Obaseki on power generation and distribution, stressing it was the governor’s insistence that led to the private electricity bill that has changed the power grid sector in the country and equally compelled the federal government to liberalize the power sector and move it to the concurrent list.
