Comprising business leaders and professionals from different sectors, the Ogun Business Roundtable (OBR) is positioning itself as a platform for constructive engagement between the private sector and government. Vanessa Obioha reports that through evidence-based policy recommendations and collaboration, the group hopes to address operational challenges, improve transparency and create a more conducive environment for businesses to thrive in the state
A group of business-minded individuals in Ogun State is working towards improving the operational environment for businesses in the state.
Known as the Ogun Business Roundtable (OBR), the group comprises individuals from different sectors, including trade, academia, media, health, and law, and is addressing a key question: how can the state improve the ease of doing business?
With its close proximity to Lagos State, Ogun remains one of the country’s industrial hubs, with a high concentration of higher institutions. From Agbara to Ota and Sagamu, the state is home to several manufacturing multinationals. Its Agbara Industrial Estate, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, hosts industries such as Unilever, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Beta Glass, Pharma-Deko and GZ. A similar industrial concentration exists in Sango-Ota, where companies such as Nigerian Breweries carry out their manufacturing operations. The state also boasts free trade zones in Igbesa.
Its abundant land resources have also attracted investments in industrial parks, the most recent being the $1.8 billion Lee Group First Industrial Park.
Nicknamed Nigeria’s Educational Capital, Ogun is home to more than 20 accredited universities and has the highest number of private universities in the country. These institutions also contribute to the influx of people into the state during academic sessions.
Despite its economic potential, however, doing business in Ogun is not without its challenges. From infrastructure deficits and power supply issues to land documentation and acquisition, data deficiencies, poor urban planning and access to affordable healthcare, and insecurity, several barriers continue to affect businesses and their ability to maximise profits.
It is against this backdrop that OBR is positioning itself as a think tank that can help influence government policies and improve the ease of doing business.
Its chairman, Ayodele Aderinwale, who is also chairman of JustRite Superstore, described the group as a gathering of decision-makers engaging the government in a non-confrontational and non-partisan manner for the economic development and transformation of the state.
“The essence of this group is not about attracting investment. It’s about improving the ease of doing business,” he clarified. “The key thing is improving the operational environment, taking away arbitrariness, and creating a channel where we can engage with the government on major policy issues.”
“Is there something we can do about electricity? Is there something we can do about the road network? Is there something we can do about security and safety? What about the regulatory agencies of the government? How do we interface with them? Those kinds of concerns are more important to us,” he added.
The idea, he said, arose from the need to establish a forum for regular engagement between the private and public sectors in Ogun, “essentially to deepen the partnership for the economic development and transformation of Ogun.”
“As you know, increasingly, the private sector is playing a bigger role. It’s getting more and more critical to economic transformation in Africa and globally, and Ogun is one state where the private sector is on the rise. It’s important that the two of us will see each other not as adversaries or as a need for the government to approximate the private sector, but to see that we are all concerned about dealing with the key issues of development, which is eradication of poverty by creating wealth.”
The group, which is fully registered under Nigerian law, has maintained a non-partisan stance as one of its core principles. It seeks to influence government policies through professional consultation.
“We cannot dictate to the government,” added OBR Secretary, Daniel Shangotola. “The goal is to influence government policies to help with economic growth and encourage more investments in the state.”
The group’s other objectives, according to him, include “shaping policy coherence through evidence-based reviews and recommendations that support industrialisation and competitiveness. We also want to catalyse public and private collaboration involving government, business, academia and civil society as well. Facilitate investment flows into key productive sectors of Ogun, and then to do it in such a way that the government does its business in a bit more transparent manner.”
For Aderinwale, OBR is not just another think tank. It distinguishes itself through the calibre of its membership.
“We are just a gathering of business people, mostly at the decision-making level, who are genuinely concerned and are interested in positively engaging the government in a non-confrontational, non-partisan manner, just to work together.”
The group currently has nine members, with plans to expand its network. Aderinwale described it as a persistent pressure group that uses reasoning and quality offerings to influence policy outcomes, regardless of the government’s willingness.
Although it has yet to formally launch, OBR has been meeting monthly since last year as it prepares to become fully operational. Aderinwale said the group hopes to complete its preparations by the first quarter of 2027, with some progress expected before the end of 2026.