Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture has on Monday stated that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has implemented over 150 reforms, moving Nigeria up 39 places on the World Bank Doing Business index since 2016.
The Minister disclosed this during a visit to the IshK Tolaram Foundation in Lagos, said the reforms were also responsible for Nigeria being twice named as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world in the last three years, doubled as one of only two African countries to make this highly-prestigious list in 2019.
In a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the President on Media, Office of the Minister of Information and Culture Segun Adeyemi, Alhaji Mohammed said to understand the significance of Nigeria moving up in the World Bank Doing Business Index, there is a need to recall that between 2007 and 2015, Nigeria lost 64 places in the World Bank ease of doing business ranking.
He said as a result of the reforms, the 2018 Subnational Doing Business report on Nigeria recorded unprecedented improvement, and the World Economic Forum (WEF), in its 2018 Global Competitive Report, recognized Nigeria’s business environment as one of the most entrepreneurial in the world and highlighted Nigeria’s improved competitiveness in the enabling business environment.
He also said the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020), signed by President Muhammadu Buhari – Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades – introduced at least 15 new provisions that promote ease of doing business and reduce regulatory hurdles in Nigeria.
The Minister added that “the Creation of a National Collateral Registry (NCR) of movable assets by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC), in May 2016 ensures that functional equivalents of collaterals can be registered. To date, over N1 trillion assets have been uploaded on the Registry.”
Other reforms listed by the Minister include visa on arrival for business people, reduction in the time it takes to register a company at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the introduction of the electronic filing and payment of federal taxes.
Alhaji Mohammed commended the IshK Tolaram Foundation for its programmes in Nigeria, especially in the areas of healthcare as well as entrepreneurial and vocational training, saying the artificial limbs provided free of charge has inspired hope for the beneficiaries.
Ms. Neha Mehra, the Programme Director of ISHK Foundation, who conducted the Minister round the centre, said the foundation which is funded with 25 per cent of the profit from the Tolaram Group, was set up as the next step in a 100-year history of philanthropy at Tolaram, explaining that it partners with churches, mosques, hospitals and NGOs to identify and support people requiring artificial limbs free of charge.
