We’re embarking on critical reforms to ease business registration- CAC boss
…as Nigeria moves 15 places in World Bank ranking
The acting Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Azuka Azinge says the key reforms carried out by the commission has made business registration easy for small and medium enterprises.
This is even as Nigeria has moved up 15 places from 146 to 131 out of 190 nations in the latest ranking of World Bank’s ease of doing business.
EFCC arrests 2 brothers, 8 other suspects in Ilorin over alleged fraud
Azinge, however, said the commission’s drive is to ensure that Nigerian business owners register their businesses comfortably at any location where they are, which in the turn will fast track economic development through the small and medium enterprise sectors.
The acting registrar was speaking at 2019 conference of the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) conference tagged, “Next Level Agenda: Unlocking the Under-Utilized Potentials in the Non-Oil Sector; the Role of MSMEs, Exports, Standards and Skill Acquisition,” in Abuja yesterday.
“The latest World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking has revealed that Nigeria is now ranked 131 position, showing that the country moved up by 15 places from the 146 position it was ranked in 2019.
“A major component of the improvement in ranking came as a result of some agency’s drive to ease business registration and provide a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive. This is our commitment to drive the country’s economy by making business registration easy and putting other policies in place to drive economic growth,” she added.
In his address, the Chairman, Abuja chapter of the Chamber and Commerce Correspondents of Nigeria, Frederick Idehai says it is important that Nigeria begin to have deep thinking on diversification especially in the area of agriculture.
According to him, “the decision of key agencies to adopt the diversification agenda led to the improvement of Nigeria in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business and also improved Foreign Direct Investment, however, the agencies handling the economy to do better in improving businesses in the country”.
Meanwhile, the latest World Bank ranking, released on Thursday, revealed that Nigeria scored four points higher from 52.9 to 56.9. This leap puts Nigeria in the bracket of top 10 most improved in the latest ranking.
The report has it that “Nigeria has embarked on a comprehensive reform journey following the example of Kenya. The motivation for reform in Nigeria, Tajikistan and Togo was part of the developmental achievements of their neighbours.
“These economies implemented a total of 59 regulatory reforms in 2018/2019, accounting for one-fifth of all the reforms recorded worldwide. Their efforts focused primarily in the areas of starting a business, dealing with construction permits and trading borders.”
Ease of doing business ranking is based on quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering the property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
