The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council has introduced its fifth National Action Plan aimed at rapid implementation of reforms for further improvement of the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
The NAP 5.0, which was launched at the FCT Lituationsubnational ease of doing business event by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and member of the PEBEC, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, and Special Adviser to Mr President on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary to the PEBEC, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, was the fifth since the establishment of PEBEC in 2016, and would run from February 5 to April 4, 2020.
A statement by Oduwole said NAP 5.0 was set to deliver reforms in key areas which were, “Automation of the land registration process in both Lagos and Kano states thereby reducing the time for the application process by half; Reduce the number of inspections in construction permitting through implementation of joint inspections by related agencies in Lagos; and improve the overall time by 48hours in customs clearance at the ports by implementing full pre-arrival cargo clearance process.”
While speaking on the next phase of reforms, Oduwole, stated that, “The fifth National Action Plan provides us with another window to deepen and implement business climate reforms for SMEs.
“As is our custom, the upcoming reforms are being communicated to the public along with the agencies responsible and the expected impact so we can all jointly collaborate and actualise the progress of these reforms.”
The statement recalled that over the past four years of PEBEC’s operations, ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government, State Governments; the National Assembly and the Judiciary had all implemented reforms with far reaching impact on the business environment in Nigeria.
These reforms, it added, had resulted in validation from the private sector as well upward movement in Nigeria’s ranking in key indexes such as the World Bank Doing Business index and World Economic Forum Competitiveness Index.
It stated that some key reforms implemented since 2016 included the automation of companies’ registration by the Corporate Affairs Commission; facilitation of the legal frameworks for the operation of credit reporting bureaux and the use of movable assets as collaterals for loans in Nigeria.
Bello noted that the importance of coordination between federal and sub- national reforms in the areas of starting a business, enforcing contracts, obtaining construction permits, and the like.