PEBEC Commences National Action Plan on Ease of Doing Business

Sunday Ehigiator

In line with its commitment to improving the business environment in Nigeria, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has commenced the 7th National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) aimed at driving systemic business climate reforms.

A statement by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, revealed that the National Action Plan which was first introduced in February 2017 has become a signature homegrown 60-day accelerator and reform tool designed to coordinate the effective delivery of priority reforms of select ministries, departments and agencies annually.

“This year’s action plan was approved at PEBEC’s meeting of February 1, 2022, and it’s scheduled to run from February 7 to April 7, 2022, to further reduce the challenges faced by MSMEs across five areas, including, Agro-Export Implementation Action Plan, Automation Reforms, Regulatory Reforms, Legislative/Judicial Reforms and Executive Order 01/ReportGov.NG compliance reforms, ”she said.

According to her, the reforms include the streamlining and simplification of ago-export regulatory practices to boost the competitiveness of Nigeria’s agro-exports while enhancing Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings as stated in the Agro-Export Plan.

The Agro-Export Action Plan stems from the report of the Agro-Export Ad-Hoc Committee earlier constituted in November 2021 by His Excellency, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON and Chair of the PEBEC.

The Committee was chaired by the Honourable Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum, while the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Oduwole, coordinates its activities.

Furthermore, NAP 7.0 seeks to intensify efforts at improving the travel experience at our airports and to strengthen the automation of the business incorporation process of the Corporate Affairs Commission. Other reforms include the establishment of Small Claims Court across more States of the Federation, as well as to drive adoption of electronic filing of taxes by taxpayers.

At the end of the 60-day window, it is expected that MSMEs will experience an enhanced trademark registration process, with vast improvements in the tracking and evaluation of MDAs’ compliance with the directives of the Executive Order 01 (EO1). EO1 implementation will be supported with improved complaint resolution on the ReportGov.NG platform, with the enlisting of more MDAs listed on the platform.

In her remarks at the launch of the 7th National Action Plan, the PEBEC Secretary and Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Oduwole, stated that “the 7th National Action Plan is designed to break away from the recent lacklustre performances of the 5th and 6th NAP editions, which ended at 44 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

“With the firm support of the Council to always count upon, it is expected that NAP 7.0 reform implementation by our MDAs will mark a remarkable improvement over recent editions.”