Background
In 2014, Nigeria’s economy witnessed immense growth, with a GDP of US$568.5 Billion, thereby becoming the largest economy in West Africa. This was attributed mainly to an unprecedented increase in certain industries, such as Telecommunications, Retail, Film and Entertainment Industry. However, in 2015 there was a seismic shift as the country was heading towards recession due to a crash in global oil prices.
The state of the economy led the newly inaugurated Buhari administration to take certain far-reaching measures to revive the economy, as a crucial part of the government’s economic transformation policy in 2016, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) was established to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and create a favourable environment for growing business; specifically the council has as part of its mandate the task of improving Nigeria’s ranking in the ease of doing business. On February 21, 2017, the council approved a 60-Day National Action Plan detailing actions to be performed by certain Ministries, Departments and MDAs.
Certain reforms have been introduced by the council in key areas such as-
Starting a business- company name searches on the CAC portal has been introduced, a single incorporation form has also been adopted by the CAC to save time and reduce costs; documents can also be uploaded for submission on the CAC website, FIRS e-payment solution has been integrated into the CAC portal.
Dealing with Construction Permits- there is an operational e-planning platform which allows tracking of applications, payment of fees and uploading of architectural designs.
Getting electricity-there has been a reduction in the number of procedures and time lines at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Getting credit-online searches have been introduced at the National Collateral Registry
Registering a property- sworn affidavits are no longer required at the registry and there is an on-going streamlining of the registration process.
Trading across borders- the palletisation of imports has become mandatory to enable physical inspection of goods at the import, vessels importing into Nigeria are now required to provide an advance cargo manifest for risk assessment and cargo placement, the Nigerian Custom Service is required to coordinate physical examination of goods, certain agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and commercial banks are now mandated to accelerate pre-export documentation procedures and there is a reduction in container placement notice time.
Entry and Exit of people- The process for obtaining visa on arrival has been simplified including the submission process. There are new immigration regulations; arrival and departure forms have been consolidated, there is also 48-hours visa processing time, and other infrastructural improvements at the Abuja Airport.
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