Ease of doing Business: OPS urge FG to prioritise institutional reforms over executive orders

On the heels of the latest World Bank ease of doing business 2018 ranking which saw Nigeria slip one step, some members of the Organised Private Sector, OPS have urged the federal government to focus on institutional reforms of the various government agencies rather than rely on President Buhari’s several executive orders which are yet to
deliver maximum impact.

Some of them who spoke to BusinessDay on the report which ranked Nigeria 146th out of 189th country said reforms in the ministries, Department and Agencies of the government must be prioritized to lift Nigeria’s next ranking.

“Ease of doing business will be improved via institutional reforms and not executive orders. Executive Orders are great but the government structure to drive such reforms must be institutionalized,” ‎Celestine Okeke, Lead Partner Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Advocacy support initiative told BusinessDay.

The country, 2017 moved up 24 places in the rankings and was widely celebrated as a key feat by the Buhari-led administration.

‎Although Nigeria, in the latest report slipped one step to 146th position out of 190 ranked countries when compared to the previous year’s 146th ranking, the World Bank however reported an improvement in Nigeria’s ease of doing business, moving the country from 51.52 to 52.89.

According to the report, Nigeria carried out key reforms which
included making starting a business in Kano and Lagos, the two cities
covered by doing business. Getting electricity and trading across
borders also saw reforms in the two cities.

Okeke is further worried that despite all the efforts of the federal
government through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment
Council, PEBEC, there is still serious disconnect among various
agencies of the government in the way and manner they carry out their
responsibilities.

“There appears to be a lot going on, but at the same time, it looks as
if there is a major disconnect in the whole process which appears not
to be delivering the right kind of results expected,‎” Okeke said.

While highlighting some disconnects in government’s efforts, he
explained that, “The Vice President moved around the country on the
back of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council 60-days
action plan. Most of the small scale business people who interacted
with him still complain of the difficulties in dealing with specific
government institutions after those visits to the markets by the Vice
President.”

Expressing similar concern Tony Ejinkonye, the Vice President of
National ‎Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, NACCIMA
said government needs to ‘walk the talk’.

He said the for instance, that the Federal Inland Revenue Services,
the Nigeria’s Customs Service and other revenue generating agencies
should ensure transactions are done with all fairness and ease.

”Let me tell you, the tax environment is still very much unfriendly
despite all the much touted reforms of the federal government.”

“There are specific instances where if you have tax obligations, the
government could freeze your account, and this is not healthy for ease
of doing business. Our tax administration is still on medieval
strategy, we really need to improve on that,” Ejinkonye said.

He further noted that infrastructure concerns comprising largely of
the problems in the Ports still worries investors and is still a drag
on the country’s ease of doing business. “Government is doing much in
port reforms but we ‎need to see the results,” he stated.

Ejinkonye expressed further worry that‎ access to finance is still a
major source of concern to business.

According to him, “Banks are crowding out ‎lending processes with
unbearable interest rates, and that is squeezing several companies out
of business. The other source of worry is that federal government’s
intervention funds are often treated as a commercial loan just as the
commercial banks, and that is not good enough for business” Ejinkonye
said.

HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA