NAP 5.0 was launched by Alhaji Mohammed Bello, Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and member of the PEBEC, and Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to Mr President on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary to the PEBEC at the FCT Lituation subnational ease of doing business event which held on February 4, 2020.
It would be recalled that over the past four years of PEBEC’s operations ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government (MDAs), State Governments; the National Assembly and the Judiciary have all implemented reforms with far reaching impact on the business environment in Nigeria. These reforms have 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.
Some key reforms implemented since 2016 include the automation of companies’ registration by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); facilitating the legal frameworks for the operation of credit reporting bureaus and the use of movable assets as collaterals for loans in Nigeria.
Over the last three years, Nigeria moved up 39 places, from 170 to 131, on the World Bank Doing Business index, and the country was twice recognized as a top 10 most improved economy in the world by the World Bank during the same period.
The 5th National Action Plan (NAP 5.0) is set to deliver reforms in the following key areas:
- 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 the implementation of joint inspections by related agencies in Lagos.
- Improve the overall time by 48hours in customs clearance at the ports by implementing full pre-arrival cargo clearance process.
Speaking at the event, Alhaji Bello, Honourable Minister FCT noted the importance of coordination between federal and subnational reforms in the areas of starting a business, enforcing contracts, obtaining construction permits, and the like. He expressed the readiness of his Administration to be a PEBEC case study by making the FCT more business friendly.
On this next phase of reforms, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary to the PEBEC 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 PEBEC was established by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 to oversee Nigeria’s business climate reform agenda and is chaired by His Excellency the Vice President, with the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment as Vice-Chair. The PEBEC model aligns with global best practice and includes a strong performance tracking element to guarantee the delivery of reforms for the benefit of SMEs operating in Nigeria.
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