The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) said ministries, Departments, and Agencies on its platforms have achieved 80 percent implementation of reforms on ease of doing business in the country.
The Presidential Council under the leadership of Vice President Kashim Shettima had set a 120-day window for agencies to implement the Regulatory Reform Accelerator (RRA) to improve ease of doing business in the country.
The Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business Jumoke Oduwole said out of the 1,187 reforms set across 36 agencies spanning 14 ministries on the PEBEC platform, 876 reforms were completed
Oduwole while speaking during a town hall meeting yesterday in Abuja commended all the participating MDAs for their collective focus on the eight key indicators, saying the reforms have yielded some measurable impact across various sectors of the economy, reinforcing the critical role of regulatory reforms in driving economic progress by making it more conducive for Nigerians to start and grow their businesses, thus creating a more productive and competitive business environment.
She noted that “These reforms are not merely cosmetic. They form a critical part of PEBEC’s mandate as an enabler for the 8-point Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration, particularly through concrete support to businesses operating in Nigeria.”
Oduwole assured that the issues that have been raised during the town hall meeting will be distilled into further reforms for our next Regulatory Reform Accelerator starting in September 2024.
She revealed that the PEBEC Secretariat has commissioned an independent empirical verification report based solely on feedback from private sector stakeholders, either corroborating or disputing the expected effect and impact of the reforms that have been delivered over the last 120 days, which will be ready and made publicly available within the next 60 days.
Oduwole acknowledged that business climate, both locally and globally has continued to experience turbulence, characterized by uncertainties and rapid changes, saying businesses of all sizes have reported that it is getting tougher to do business and that the evolving landscape of policies – from recently proposed expatriate quota levies to cybersecurity charges, to paid up share capital regulations continue to have roller coaster effect on policy space due to unpredictability and uncertainty, which hinders the ability to plan.
While pointing out that although businesses continue to face challenges as a result of
ongoing reforms at the macro and micro levels, she said “we are confident that staying the course with the Renewed Hope Agenda and completing these key reforms will yield significant improvements in the business climate across Nigeria in 2024 and 2025.”
She, however, recognised the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) for being the most consistent agency having completed the RRAs within 90 days, Nigeria Customs Service was recognised as the most improved agency for moving from 9.7percent to 100percent within the 30 days extension.
The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were acknowledged for their team consistency, quality delivery, and exemplary team adding that NAQS is also the first agency to reach the 100pecemt mark.
The overall best-performing Ministry: was given to the Ministry of Marine & Blue Economy. She said Minister Gboyega Oyetola demonstrated exceptional leadership by pulling together all the heads of agencies under the ministry with a clear mandate to deliver all reforms under the ministry’s purview.
