FG, NGF to leverage $750m World Bank-assisted SABER programme for land reforms, others

The Federal Government and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have embarked on a collaborative approach to leverage the World Bank-assisted $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Programme for critical reforms at the sub-national level. The nascent programme is designed to improve efficiency in land reforms, and regulatory framework for private investment in fibre optic deployment, among others. SABER is the successor programme to the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results (PforR) designed to enthrone fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability at the sub-national level which was introduced in 2018. It is a three-year (2023-2025) $750 million programme which seeks to incentivize states to implement critical reforms aimed at improving efficiency in land administration, the regulatory framework for private investment in fibre optic deployment, services provided by investment promotion agencies and public-private partnership units, and the efficiency and transparency of government to business services in participating states. To effectively achieve the reform agenda of the programme, the federal government has engaged the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) to assist in providing a cocktail of technical assistance services, including advisory, guidelines, peer learning sessions and technical workshops. The financing from the programme seeks to reward states with over $4.5 million each for successfully setting up the requisite “Governance Systems, Guidelines and Piloting Investment(s) in line with Established Principles.” The National Programme Coordinator, SABER Programme, Ali Mohammed, said this in Abuja at the commencement of a workshop on the Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land-Intensive Agriculture (FRILIA) jointly organised for sub-nationals by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the NGF.