HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR CAN SPUR
ENTERPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA UNDER THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS POLICY
The Nigerian Traders Business Forum is a platform that encourages small and medium scale
businesses to be active
players in the Nigerian Investment Hub for economic growth and development.
The
problem of unemployment has been one of the challenges governments in the world
over grapple with. In Nigeria, the problem of unemployment is one that has
continued to occupy the attention of policy makers, development experts and
economists alike. This, perhaps, informed the prioritisation of creation of
employment as one of the platforms on which the 2015 presidential campaign of
President Muhammadu Buhari was hoisted.
Pursuant
to this campaign promise, the administration of President Buhari issued a number
of Executive Orders on the ease of doing business in Nigeria. One of such
Executive Orders is the Executive Order on the Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency
in the Business Environment in Nigeria, also known as the EO001 which was
signed by the then Acting President and the Vice President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on the 18th of May, 2017.
Other Executive Orders he signed that day were the Executive Order on Support
for Local Content in Public Procurement by the Federal Government which
requires that MDAs utilise made in Nigeria products and the Executive Order on
Budget which specifies timelines for MDAs to submit their budgets to the
Ministry of Finance to facilitate timely submission to the National Assembly.
The
aggregate effect of these Executive Orders is to create the felicitous climate
for businesses to thrive, thereby encouraging Nigerians to be empowered economically
by being self-employed. Whether these Executive Orders have been effective in
driving the ease of doing business policy of the Federal Government and thereby
reducing unemployment remains a moot point. Statistics available from the
Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) puts the unemployment rate in Nigeria at
23.1% and underemployment rate at 16.6% in the third quarter of 2018.
At a workshop in May, 2019, the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment predicted that unemployment rate in Nigeria was expected to hit 33.5% by 2020. The consequences of this apocalyptic statistics are manifold.
They range from poverty to social deviances such as drug abuse, vagrancy and loafing to downright criminality such as armed robbery, kidnappings, militancy and banditry.
At a workshop in May, 2019, the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment predicted that unemployment rate in Nigeria was expected to hit 33.5% by 2020. The consequences of this apocalyptic statistics are manifold.
They range from poverty to social deviances such as drug abuse, vagrancy and loafing to downright criminality such as armed robbery, kidnappings, militancy and banditry.
The
ease of doing business can be more effective if certain steps which the Federal
Government appears to have missed are taken and redressed. The Executive Orders
on ease of doing business in Nigeria should transcend bureaucratic rhetorics
and address the realities of the business climate in Nigeria. For instance, the
Executive Order EO001 has as its focal points transparency, one government,
default approvals, entry experience of travellers and visitors and ports
operations.
Taking the issue of ports operations as an example, Nigerians are almost unanimous in their opinion that ports operations stultify businesses whose raw materials are sourced outside the shores of Nigeria. It is estimated that Nigeria loses $19Billion, that is, 5% of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP), annually from the delays, traffic jams and illegal charges at the ports.
Similarly, while the Government is commended for ensuring a seamless process of business name registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission, there is also the need to overhaul Nigeria’s tax regimes towards attracting investors into the country.
Taking the issue of ports operations as an example, Nigerians are almost unanimous in their opinion that ports operations stultify businesses whose raw materials are sourced outside the shores of Nigeria. It is estimated that Nigeria loses $19Billion, that is, 5% of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP), annually from the delays, traffic jams and illegal charges at the ports.
Similarly, while the Government is commended for ensuring a seamless process of business name registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission, there is also the need to overhaul Nigeria’s tax regimes towards attracting investors into the country.
While
a review of the legal and policy regimes is necessary towards creating an
enabling environment for businesses to thrive, the relevance of infrastructures
for business sustainability cannot be undermined. Over the years, the Federal
Government continues to spend more money on recurrent expenditure than it spends
on capital expenditure. For instance, the Federal Government approved a total
of ₦2.93Trillion on capital expenditure in the 2019 budget and proposes to
spend ₦2.14Trillion on capital expenditure in the 2020 budget. On the other
hand, the appropriations for recurrent expenditure (non-debt) for 2019 and 2020
budgets are ₦4.74Trillion and ₦4.88Trillion respectively. Specifically, under
the 2020 Appropriation Bill, the total amount standing to the credit of the
revenue budget is ₦8.15Trillion. On the other hand, ₦10.33Trillion is the
figure ascribed to the expenditure budget. With a budget deficit of ₦2.18Trillion
in the 2020 budget, the Federal Government needs now more than ever a spirited
partnership with the private sector to provide the requisite infrastructures to
guarantee the success of its ease of doing business policy.
A progressive partnership with a virile private sector which has its eyes fixed on the expected returns on investment will, no doubt, revamp dormant and decaying infrastructures such as power, energy, roads and an efficient transportation system, especially the rail and the cabotage system which covers the ports and the inland waterways. The functionality of these key infrastructures determines the success or the failure of any government policy on job creation.
A progressive partnership with a virile private sector which has its eyes fixed on the expected returns on investment will, no doubt, revamp dormant and decaying infrastructures such as power, energy, roads and an efficient transportation system, especially the rail and the cabotage system which covers the ports and the inland waterways. The functionality of these key infrastructures determines the success or the failure of any government policy on job creation.
One of such active private sector players is the Trade Nigeria Organisation (TNO) which provides a hub to facilitate and propel the growth of businesses in Nigeria using this forum NIGERIA TRADERS BUSINESS FORUM – whether such businesses are small, medium or large scale. TNO is a public-private joint partnership with focus on supporting business development in Nigeria, sourcing for and attracting investments to Nigeria, promoting trades, both national and international, economic exchange and multilateral cooperation with major aim on growing the Nigerian rural economy.
It is expected that these objectives, when aggressively pursued by the EBES in partnership with the TNO, can spur enterpreneurial development and turn Nigeria’s vast human capital into a formidable productive force not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa.
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