Business
Ease Of Doing Business: FG Moves To Improve Ranking
The Federal Government says all tiers of government are now being proactive to improve the country’s 2018 ranking on the Ease of Doing Business.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Aminu Bisalla, said this in Abuja recently, at a meeting with the commissioners for trade and commerce from the states.
“All arm of government are now involved to ensure that the country improves in its ranking of ease of doing business.
“As part of effort aimed at facilitating the ease of doing business in Nigeria, registration is now very easy; small businesses can now establish without facing any difficult situation.
“More states have lands that are accessible, business owners can use the land to get loan and I am very optimistic that the next ranking will see Nigeria progress tremendously.
“A lot is being done to reposition the economy in areas where we have comparative advantage.
“We have realised that the engine of growth is the private sector and the only way to succeed in vitalising the economy is to make it very easy for businesses to flourish,” Bisalla said.
In July 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari established the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) with a mandate to remove bureaucratic and regulatory constraints to doing business in Nigeria. The Council is chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
The council released three main pillars of the next phase of interventions and reform to improve its image on ease of doing business report by the World Bank in 2018.
The pillars comprises Deepening Existing Reforms, Sub-national Reforms and Trading within Nigeria.
Nigeria’s ranking in the latest report by the World Bank for 2017 improved marginally from 170 to 169 out of the 190 countries
Nigeria’s overall global ranking improved by 44.63 per cent points average, against 44.02 per cent age points, or 0.61 per cent in 2016.
Bisalla said that in the past, the major challenge for small business owners was multiple taxation which made it difficult for small businesses to develop.
According to him, with the effort made so far by the government, business can now flourish and with that, there will be more employment in the country.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, in a paper, said there were compelling imperatives for sub-national reforms at the states level.
The paper is tilted: “Reforming Nigeria at the sub-national level: Bringing Enabling Environment Reforms to all Nigerians”.
Oduwole, who is the Secretary to the council, said that the reforms were in the best interest of each state to support economic growth and development.
She said that reform progress would serve as a tool for investors to measure viability of proposed investment in a state, adding that some states were already implementing the reforms.
Oduwole said a lot could be achieved with limited resources by applying best practices like efficiency, transparency, performance management and key performance indicators.
“Sub-national rankings are important as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make up to 90 per cent of business in Nigeria.
“The local business plays a vital role in ability of MSMEs to thrive, a friendly business environment MSMEs to move from the informal to the formal sector,” she said.
Oduwole said that drastic and fast-paced business reforms must be conducted simultaneously to improve the business environment and attract foreign investors.
She said that reforms must be adopted within the next 12 months to reflect in the 2018 ease of doing business report.
According to her, going forward, the council is focusing on three key areas which are deepening existing sub-national and additional reforms.
Ms Cemile Hacibeyoglu, from the World Bank Group, said successful reforms should include all relevant agencies and the private sector.
Hacibeyoglu said the sub-national doing business studies were aimed to promote competition and motivate regulatory reforms, to improve the business environment and achieve convergence among locations towards the best regulatory practices.
Business
NASS Engages Agric Minister On Food Crisis
The National Assembly through its joint committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development has engaged the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on an urgent solution to food inflation bedeviling the country.
The committee chaired by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central), at an interface with the Minister, interrogated him on plans being put in place to arrest high cost of food prices in the country and make it affordable and available to the poor masses.
In his response, the Minister said the Federal Government has commenced distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to some focal points of state capitals nationwide.
“We have received directive and approval from Mr. President to distribute for immediate impact 42,000 metric tons of assorted grains free of charge to the Nigerian population.
“This was received in mid-February, as we are speaking, we have a record of the distribution being carried out, but I will want to plead with the honorable house and distinguished senators that some of the movements can’t be made public but a lot of states have started receiving their grains.
“We are distributing to state capitals in the first instance as you all are aware of the risk involved in the vandalism of foodstuff so we are working with the office of the national security adviser and other national security agencies.
“Furthermore, 58,500 metric tonnes of milled rice from mega rice millers will also be released into the market for stabilisation”, he said.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the interactive session, Senator Mustapha expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the federal government.
He said: “From our interactive session, we are on the other side of the parliament; we are fully in the picture of what is happening, we are convinced that the steps being taken by the federal government are in the right direction.
“All we did again is to further emphasise on the need for certain things to be done on time, I think from this collaborative approach by the grace of God, Nigerians will have a better feel of the government policy on food security”.
Business
Obj Harps On Cheap Credit, Policy Consistency For Food Production
Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the government to provide cheap credit and ensure policy consistency to enable farmers increase food production in the country.
The former President made the call as food inflation and nutrition security concerns grow in Africa’s most populous country.
Obasanjo’s made the call at the 9th Agrofood & Plastprintpack conference in Lagos recently, where he said farmers in the country were yearning for consistency in policy and single-digit interest loans to drive growth in the sector and attain food security.
“Policy sustainability and predictability is what farmers want. It helps them to plan. Availability of finance is also what farmers want. They cannot survive on the double digital interest rate”, Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, said at the conference.
According to him, food and nutrition security start with availability, then affordability by ensuring that everyone who needs food can get it.
He noted that food was one of the major imperatives in life, adding that “there cannot be food without agriculture and agribusiness”.
Obasanjo further stressed the importance of agriculture in changing the fortunes of the economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food security and other spin-offs.
He noted that agriculture must be made attractive to the country’s teeming youth population, saying this would address the rising unemployment, worsening insecurity and youth migration through the Mediterranean.
“We have to make agriculture attractive to the youths. We have to think within and outside the box to make it attractive to the youths so they are willing to get their hands dirty and feet wet”, he advised.
He continued that “Part of the security issue is owing to our inability to get them engaged. The need for agro-food and agribusiness is for food security, employment, wealth creation and income generation, particularly foreign exchange”.
Speaking also, Wouter Plom, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said his country had faced challenges similar to those Nigeria confronts – feeding a growing population with limited resources.
He said as partners with a joint vision, the Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agricultural sector was one of the prominent drivers for economic growth.
He noted that the Netherlands has further strengthened its partnership with Nigeria to boost the agriculture sector in three main areas- economic growth, improved diets and youth employment.
The ambassador noted that all the challenges in driving growth through the sector, improving diets and tackling unemployment can be addressed when food production is efficient.
Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, said with more investment in agro-food & plastprintpack solutions, products and technologies, brighter days were ahead for Nigeria’s agriculture.
Business
Abuja Farmers, Others Lose N12bn To Ginger Disease
The Federal Government, has confirmed the outbreak of ginger blight epidemic in four States in Nigeria, saying ginger farmers have lost over N12 billion due to the disease.
The government disclosed this at the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja, revealing that the fungal disease had inflicted significant damage on ginger farms in Kaduna, Nassarawa Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the blight had caused billions of naira in losses, impacting not only the livelihoods of farmers, but also Nigeria’s position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer.
“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.
“Furthermore, considering that over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land”, he stated.
Abdullahi, however, stated that the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6bn recovery package for affected farmers in ginger-producing areas.
He said the ginger blight epidemic served as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness in safeguarding agricultural resources, adding that by investing in research, extension services and farmer support systems, “we can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector”.
On his part, the Chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, said there was no doubt that the blight on ginger had negatively affected the Gross Domestic Product earnings from this subsector.
“It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects”, he stated.
Abdullahi assured the minister of the commitment of the team to salvage the situation, as he pleaded with the minister to give the committee the power to co-opt members that would add value to the task force to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
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