The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has lauded Nigeria’s rating alongside China and India as one of the ten countries with the ‘most notable improvement’ on the ease of doing business.
BMO Chairman, Mr Niyi Akinsiju, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the development reflected the impact of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regulatory reforms.
He recalled the World Bank’s ease of doing a business report for 2020 which indicated that getting electricity, enforcing contracts, and registering property as part of the reforms that contributed to the improvement which ranked Nigeria 131 among the 190 countries ranked.
“This improvement is suggestive of the fact that the country has made commitments to improving the business environment in the country, making it possible to be listed with economic giants like India and China.
“This will subsequently impact positively on both local and foreign investors making Nigeria a core primary investment destination in Africa,” he said.
According to him, the new Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) is expected to revolutionalise the ease of doing business in the country.
“The fight against corruption is what is reflecting on the ease of accessing licenses and registering companies compared to what was obtainable before.
“We now have policies that are directly institutionalising the war against corruption and it is impacting on the processes of doing business and that is what is making the difference now.
“Prior to now, people had to pay much more and wait for a longer period of time to secure a license to set up a business,” BMO chairman said
He said acquiring properties was somewhat different and fraudulent.
“Now it is easier to get Certificate of Occupancy because of the digitisation of the process”.
Akinsiju expressed confidence in CAMA and the momentum that had been gathered in the last four years.
“We are optimistic that in the next two years when the ranking will be reviewed, we will get to the top 100 countries in the ease of doing business ranking,” he said.