‘States Must Close Gaps on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Participants at a stakeholders meeting in Delta State have harped on the need for collaborative effort among states in the country to close identifiable gags in the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

This is coming on the heels of assurances by the Chairman, Delta State Investment Development Agency (DIDA), Mr. Paul Nmah, that the state government had drawn up strategies to improve the ease of doing business (EODB) in Delta pursuant to achieving the World Bank’s standards on EODB.

These formed part of the issues of deliberation at an engagement meeting on EODB with organised private sector and other stakeholders organised by DIDA in Asaba.

The DIDA chairman said that the agency was addressing the identified factors militating against business establishment and operations in the state, including power supply and multiple taxation exacerbated by excessive drive for revenue by local governments, in a bid to improve EODB.

Nmah said that DIDA, which is a brainchild of the Okowa administration, had attracted several industries to Delta to reduce overdependence on oil, adding, “We know all the issues and we are working hard to resolve them.” 

“So, investors should be patient with us. Some of the investments have been completed while others are nearing completion or undergoing the process of implementation.

”As the chairman of DIDA, I have made it a priority to always interface with the organised private sector towards ensuring that Delta remains the preferred investors’ haven.

“I wish to encourage and invite both local and foreign investors to avail themselves of the enabling business environment we have created for them to invest in the state.”

The Director-General of DIDA, Olorogun Lucky Oghene-Omoru, noted that the engagement with private sectors has been necessitated by the prevailing  economic and social challenges undermining numerous businesses in the country.

“The agency was deliberately placed by the governor to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks militating against businesses,” he disclosed.

He enumerated the 10 parameters of the World Bank’s EODB programme  meant to eliminate bottlenecks  that endanger the performance of businesses within the state and the country.

“The parameters are:  starting a business, dealing with construction permit, registering property, enforcing contract, paying taxes, resolving insolvency, obtaining credit, getting electricity, trading across borders and protecting minority investors.

“In DIDA, we have the One-Stop-Shop Department which is charged with the responsibility of evaluating the EODB in the state, guiding and advising investors with respect to the investment and programmes of the state government.

“Delta government has inaugurated the State Ease of Doing Business Council,  which together with DIDA and other relevant state Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) are working together to achieve the World Bank reforms on ease of doing business.”

Oghene-Omoru, who declared the event open, urged the stakeholders to bare their minds on issues affecting their respective businesses for deliberation and restitutions that would get the attention of the governor.

On recent ranking that placed Delta as the 35th position out of 37 in the country on the ease of doing business in the states and Abuja, he said that the ranking did not reflect reality on ground, noting that the indices used were erroneous.

Evaluators ought to use indices from Asaba, the state capital as done in other states, instead of using Warri, which once was the commercial hub, adding that businesses in Asaba have witnessed rapid and sustained growth for over two decades.

The President, Delta State Association of Chambers of  Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (DACCIMA), Chief Anthony Idigbe, represented by Mrs Onyinye Molokwu, urged the state to reflect on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council publications (PEBEC).

Idigbe said that the PEBEC report which published the KPMG Nigeria rankings of the States in the country, placed Delta as 35 out of 37 States and FCT on the ease of doing business.

On his part, the Chairman, National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Mr Princewill Ojei, and his counterpart at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Edo/Delta, Dr. Udensi Okwara, stressed the need for reliable energy base and grants to support small businesses in Delta State while tackling multiple taxation.

Similarly, representatives of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and  Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) solicited for collaboration with DIDA to deepen support to SMEs in the state through enhanced operational environment.