Nigeria must sustain ease of doing business reforms

The Buhari administration’s business reforms, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), is an opportunity to significantly boost local and foreign investments in the country, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Mr Osinbajo spoke Tuesday at a virtual meeting of the PEBEC to review the state of the reforms across a number of government agencies, noting that the Federal Government will continue to take the opportunity and ensure that more results are recorded.

As a result of the work of PEBEC, the World Bank has praised the economic direction of the Buhari administration and ranked the country higher in its annual Ease of Doing Business Rankings.

According to the vice president, “This is a country with so much promise, this is a country that has so much resources and our administration has every opportunity to do something profound about investments in Nigeria.

“We must focus on how to get our business environment working.”

Earlier in his presentation, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, expressed optimism that the challenges observed in sustaining the successes recorded in the reforms will be addressed.

On his part, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, said sustaining the PEBEC reforms is a priority for Nigeria as the country would not have risen in the Ease of Doing Business rankings if not for PEBEC.

The Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Jumoke Oduwole, said the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) will continue to drive the mandate of PEBEC through extensive collaborations, adding that the National Action Plan 5.0 has been extended to July 29, 2020.

Attendance at the meeting, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, included Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello; Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum; Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan; Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Jumoke Oduwole, amongst other members of the council.