The
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to improving Nigeria's
ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, saying the
current ranking of 169 out of 190 countries is unacceptable.
The
Minister, who gave the pledge in Abuja on Thursday when he received Dr.
Jumoke Oduwole, the Coordinator and Secretary to the Presidential
Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on a courtesy visit to his
office, lauded the various initiatives being implemented by the Council
to move Nigeria 20 steps upwards in the index.
"It's
unsatisfactory that today we are ranked 169 out of 190. That is not
very good and the things that we don't take seriously, like a file
staying for 14 days on somebody's desk, add to this poor ranking.
People
don't seem to appreciate how the poor attitude to work impacts
negatively on the image of Nigeria and the ease of doing business. This
is what this Council has been working on since last year and I am proud
to say that this Council has been working slowly and steadily but they
are actually achieving results," he said.
Citing
the example of Georgia, which was ranked in the 160s a few years ago
but currently occupies the 5th position in the global index on the Ease
of Doing Business, Alhaji Mohammed said though the task of moving
Nigeria up the ladder is daunting, there is the abundance of the
political will on the part of government to achieve such improvement.
The
Minister, who is also a member of PEBEC, said one priority area for by
the Council is to prune the number of agencies operating at the air and
sea ports from 15 to 6 to make it possible for people to clear their
goods within 24 or 48 hours.
He
said the government has also made significant improvement in easing the
bureaucracy associated with the registration of companies, which can
now be done online within a short time.
The
Minister also spoke on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic
being organised by the Council across the states of the federation,
which aims at addressing the challenges confronting the MSMEs on the
spot.
Briefing
the Minister earlier, Dr. Oduwole said the 2017 priority areas for
business reform include Starting a Business, Getting Credit, Trading
Across the Border, Paying Taxes, Construction Permits and Registering
Property.
She said three
areas prioritized based on engagement with the private sector are Entry
and Exit of Goods, Entry and Exit of People and Government Transparency.
"The
Visa-on-Arrival Programme has been updated to include e-submission.
Before people had to go to the Immigration Office to submit in person so
that the Comptroller General of Immigration could give his assent, but
now you can submit and they is also a dedicated desk and you don't have
to go physically anymore," she said.
Dr.
Oduwole disclosed that the Council has harmonised the Entry and Exit
Forms being managed by different agencies of government at our airports
and today, instead of filling four different forms to exit you fill only
one and the number of questions on that one single form has now been
reduced from 23 to 15.
Also,
she said the authorities at the ports have been mandated to install the
iCheck Security Solution Technology, which will phase out the Entry and
Exit Forms in due course.
She
also disclosed that 11 bills are currently before the National
Assembly, which will tremendously enhance the ease of doing business in
Nigeria when they are eventually enacted into law.
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
9 March 2017
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