Dec. 8, 2025

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has ranked Plateau 7th in the country in Ease of Doing Business.

Mr. Samari Modibbo, the Focal Person, Plateau Action on Enabling Reforms (SABER) disclosed this on Monday in Jos.

Modibbo spoke at the opening of a five-day training it organised for 50 selected civil servants in the state on Public Private Partnership (PPP).

He said that at the inception of the current administration, Plateau was ranked 12th, adding that it moved to 10th position in 2024.

“When this government came on board in 2023, Plateau was ranked 12th in ease of doing business.

“By the end of 2024, it was ranked 10th and today, I’m glad to inform you that the state is ranked 7th.

“This is a follow up to the commitment and political will of our governor who has the vision to make Plateau greater and better,”he said.

On the training, Modibbo explained that the move aimed at equipping the participants with the basic knowledge of enabling business environment in the state.

Modibbo, who said that the exercise was supoorted by the World Bank, also aimed at reorganising the PPP sector in the state towards optimal performance.

“The World Bank is interested in PPP being operational in every state, and we are doing this in Plateau to address two issues.

“First, the law establishing PPP in the state was passed in 2017, but has not been operational; the department has been ineffective.

“Secondly, we have lots of projects or facilities that we could enter into PPP with the private sector, but we are unable to do that simply because we have not addressed the issue of capacity.

“So we are doing this five-day training to address the shortfall in the capacity of our civil servants; we want to build their capacity to be able to handle PPP projects,”he said.

Declaring the training open, Mr Jeremiah Satmak, the Chief of Staff to the governor of Plateau, described the training as timely.

He explained that the move was in line with the 2023-2026 strategic development framework of the state government.

“This framework places strong emphasis on leveraging partnerships, innovation and private capital as critical tools for delivering sustainable development.

“Aside the 670 kilometres of road approved by the governor, the administration has also initiated the redevelopment of the Hill Station Hotel under the PPP arrangements.

“This iconic facility is being transformed into a modern hospitality and tourism hub, capable of attracting local and international visitors, create jobs and strengthening Plateau’s position as Nigeria’s tourism capital.

“These and many other projects demonstrate that PPPs are not theoretical concepts as they are already driving real and measurable progress under the current administration,”he said.

Satmak, who called on the participants to fully participate in the sessions, urged them to put the knowledge gained from the exercise towards boosting government businesses.(NAN)