Programme profile
ENABLE 2: Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment II
Overview of the ENABLE programme
ENABLE is a business advocacy programme designed to promote improved Public-Private Dialogue (PPD), ultimately leading to an improved Business Environment (BE) for poor men and women.
ENABLE1 (2008 to 2014; £12mn) worked with partners at the Federal level as well as Lagos, Kaduna, and Kano.
ENABLE2 (2014 to 2017; £11mn) dropped Lagos and added new focal states in Northern Nigeria (Jigawa, Katsina, and Zamfara).
In contrast to donor-led reform efforts, ENABLE deliberately avoided hosting its own dialogue events, or advocating directly for reforms. Instead, ENABLE worked behind-the-scenes to strengthen the process of reform within existing Nigerian institutions; helping actors better advocate, research, and report and consult on BE issues that matter most to them.
ENABLE recognised the multiplicity of actors involved in any successful reform effort, partnering with a range of organisations on both the ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ side as well as various supporting actors:
- Advocacy Organisations (AOs), such as business associations and chambers of commerce, to engage in more effective advocacy on behalf of the private sector
- Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to build their ability and willingness to consult effectively with the private sector and other stakeholders
- Media houses, both commercial and state-owned, to strengthen their role as a driver and supporter of business environment reform, a channel for information, and a platform for debate and discussion
- Research Institutions, both public and private, to improve the supply of policy research and information in order to promote informed, evidence-based dialogue.
Where required, ENABLE also engaged actors in ‘interconnected systems’, such as audience research firm AMPS in order to improve the likelihood of sustained practice change in media houses.
In contrast to Challenge Funds, ENABLE used a variety of tools and tactics to promote sustainable change in the performance and practices of these actors, including training, mentoring, brokering linkages, seeding ideas, organisational reviews, and cost-sharing.
ENABLE1 contributed to 82 new or improved PPDs, leading to 13 cases of BE reforms benefiting 1.8 million microenterprises (30% female-owned).
ENABLE2 contributed to 65 new or improved PPDs and 17 cases of reform, including the first significant federal-level BE reforms for nearly 20 years.