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$750 Million. 69 Agencies. One Question: Is Nigeria’s Reform Working?
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has positioned itself as Nigeria’s flagship reform body, tasked with making the country more business-friendly. Yet behind the glossy reports and repeated transparency awards lies a troubling reality: opaque funding streams, underperforming agencies, and the quiet transformation at the subnational level that could reshape Nigeria’s future.
The $750 Million SABER Fund
PEBEC is administering the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme — a $750 million World Bank‑backed initiative to incentivise state‑level reforms in land administration, business registration, and taxation. Despite its scale,SABER has received little investigative scrutiny. Key questions remain:
Which states have accessed the funds?
What conditionalities are attached?
How is disbursement tracked and monitored?
The programme represents one of the largest reform‑linked financing arrangements in Nigeria’s history, with direct implications for over 39 million MSMEs nationwide.
Agencies Underperforming Without Accountability
PEBEC’s 2025 Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Performance Report evaluated 69 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Results were troubling:
That agencies central to national identity and data infrastructure scored below 15% raises serious governance concerns. Yet public accountability has been muted, with limited calls for explanations or reforms.
Subnational Divide
The 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report revealed stark regional disparities:
Lagos scored 85.6%, far ahead of Kaduna (65.1%) and Oyo (62.7%).
The North‑East region performed the worst, reflecting structural and security challenges.
Fifteen states — including Adamawa, Borno, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Ondo, Osun, Sokoto, and Zamfara — were flagged as significantly lagging. This two‑speed Nigeria raises critical questions about economic inequality and regional competitiveness.
Transparency Champion or Methodology Gap?
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has won PEBEC’s top Transparency and Efficiency Champion Award for four consecutive years (2022–2025). While commendable, repeated dominance raises questions about whether the ranking methodology adequately captures reform progress across agencies.
Compliance Crisis Beneath the Numbers
PEBEC’s own reports show systemic underperformance:
In 2024, only 10 of 39 MDAs scored above 50%, with a weighted average of 34.87%.
In 2025, coverage expanded to 69 MDAs, but the weighted average remained below 50%.
This reflects an institutional culture resistant to transparency and reform — a governance crisis that has not received sufficient public debate.
Reform Architecture, Poorly Communicated
PEBEC’s layered reform tools include:
Business Facilitation Act (BFA) — the legal backbone of reforms.
Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Framework — introduced in 2025 to ensure evidence‑based regulation.
Omnibus Bill 2.0 — landmark legislation with minimal public scrutiny.
Ease of Doing Business Councils in 36 states — potentially transformative for federalism.
Small Claims Courts digitisation — a reform with direct benefits for entrepreneurs, yet underreported.
What This Means for Nigerians
Public awareness of PEBEC is broad yet shallow. Nigerians know the Council exists, yet few understand which agencies are failing or which reforms they can actually use. This gap is less about media silence than about systemic opacity — a democratic deficit that leaves citizens unable to demand accountability.
Conclusion
PEBEC’s story is beyond the awards gala. It is the 3% score, the $750 million SABER fund, and the 15 states left behind.
These are the untold stories that matter most to Nigeria’s 39 million small business owners.
