By Francis Arinze Iloani
Daily Trust Nov 2, 2017
…..How Nigeria moved to top 10 most improved economies?
The recent recognition of Nigeria as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world by the Wold Bank is a testimony that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s reforms in ease of doing business in the country are working.
As a clear demonstration that the reforms have improved the business climate in the country, the Work Bank in a reported on Tuesday, announced that Nigeria moved 24 places to 145th position in the Global Ease of Doing Business Index.
This great feat is the culmination of a year-long reforms initiated by the present government cutting across different spheres of doing business in the country: business registration, movement of people in and out of the country, movement of goods and services in and out of Nigeria, tax reforms, product registration, acquisition of land, dealing with construction permits, getting credit and protecting minority investors.
In an exclusive telephone interview with Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja, the Director General of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, described the development as “a turning point for the economy.”
Osakwe, who doubles as Nigeria’s Chief Trade Negotiator, said the Federal Government will keep doing more in the areas of reform by deepening and refining some of the reforms that moved the country up the global index of ease of doing business.
Experts, however told Daily Trust that the Federal Government still needs to intensify efforts on ease of doing business reforms in the country as more still needs to be done to remove the bottlenecks that impede seamless business operations in the country.
National President of National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Ezekiel Essien, said industrialists in the country have started feeling the impact of the reforms in the ease of doing business.
Essien acknowledged that the reforms in the area of access to credit have already paid off as his members have started accessing loans from government to grow their businesses.
He said his members have been able to secure loans of N50,000 to N100,000 from the Bank of Industry (BOI) to expand their businesses.
He urged government not to relent but continue proffering new areas for reform as the country still has the prospect of getting to the top of the index.
An economist, Charles Ozoemena, said though the upward movement on the ease of doing business index is commendable, the euphoria should not deter the government from continuing the reforms.
Ozoemena observed that the reforms have been limited mostly to Abuja, Lagos and Kano states, leaving out 34 states in the country.
He said for the reforms to be felt by all Nigerians, they have to trickle down to all states and local governments.
To make improvements, the government set up the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) chaired by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and the Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Onelamah as vice chair.
On May 18, 2017, Osinbajo signed three Executive Orders on ease of doing business bordering on the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment.
The implementation of the executive order led to the issuance of visas on arrival to investors coming to Nigeria; 50 per cent reduction in time and cost of registering business in Nigeria by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Recently, the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria campaign further received a boost with the presentation of the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap by the National Trade Facilitation Committee.
Similarly, the PEBEC recently developed a National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) for the 2017-2018 reform cycle detailing 11 key reforms in the business environment that are capable of impacting the Nigerian economy positively.
These reforms target the elimination of inspection for business premises registration and the adoption of e-registration for companies amongst others.