FG implemented 150 ease of doing business reforms, minister claims

Federal Government has implemented 150 Ease of Doing Business (EOB) reforms through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this, said the PEBEC efforts have moved Nigeria up 39 points on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index (DBI) since 2016.

Mohammed, who spoke during a visit to the Ishk Tolaran Foundation in Lagos, said the government reforms were also responsible for Nigeria being named twice as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world in the last three years-one of only two African countries to make the list in 2019.

“To understand the significance of Nigeria moving up in the World Bank Doing Business Index, we have to recall that between 2007 and 2015, Nigeria lost 64 points in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking,” he said.

He added that due to the reforms, the 2018 Doing Business report at the sub-national level on Nigeria recorded unprecedented improvement and the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its 2018 global competitive report recognised Nigeria’s business environment as one of the most entrepreneurial in the world and highlighted Nigeria’s improved competitiveness in the enabling business environment.

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He added that with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, which he described as Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades, introduced 15 new provisions that promote ease of doing business and reduce regulatory hurdles in the country. The Trumpet gathered.

“The creation of a National Collateral Registry (NCR) of movable assets by CBN with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) in 2016 ensured functional equivalent of collaterals. To date, over N1 trillion worth of assets have been uploaded on the registry,” he said.

According to Mohammed, other reforms are, visa on arrival for businessmen, reduction of time in registering companies at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), through the company registration portal from about two weeks to a few days, electronic filing and payment of federal taxes, among others reforms the President Buhari administration had implemented.