The federal government has continued to pursue the goal of making the business environment more friendly in an effort to attract investments, both local and foreign, and encourage and sustain existing ones.
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, in his numerous investment drives, especially abroad, has made Nigeria’s ease of doing business environment the key selling point of his message.
We are persuaded to aver that this point of view of the President is also resounding locally, as exemplified by the commitment of regulatory agencies like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which has, through well-designed and innovative processes, re-engineered its mechanisms to ease budding businesses’ entry into the Nigerian market.
Between April and June 2023, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Nigeria amounted to some 86.03 million U.S. dollars. This value increased compared to the previous quarter. For instance, as of first quarter (Q1) 2023, FDI in the country stood at around 47.6 million U.S. dollars.
We recall that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) was established in July 2016 by the Federal Government to oversee Nigeria’s business environment intervention. Since assuming office, the Tinubu administration has made it a top priority in his investment pitches at all fora he had attended.
As a way of measuring that council’s effectiveness, the federal government recently hosted a town hall meeting, the first of its kind, organised by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), at the Banquet Hall of State House. The purpose of the meeting was to rate the performances of its agencies piloting the affairs of making the country an investment destination.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, attended the event. It consisted of rating the country’s 90-day Regulatory Reform Accelerator (RRA), which involved 36 government agencies.
On that occasion, Vice President Shettima said that a business environment that fosters innovation, creativity, and productivity must be built on the pillars of the renewed hope agenda. He stated that the critical role of creating an environment where every idea can germinate into an enduring business cannot be taken for granted.
“Our success is not merely a matter of policy but is measured by its impact, from the small-time trader in Kafanchan to the large corporation on Lagos Island. Today, I feel the pulse of our collective desire to make this objective a reality”, the Vice President said.
Shettima used the opportunity to recognise and appreciate some government agencies that emerged amongst the top six at the end of the 120-day Regulatory Reform Accelerator (RRA) assessment.
He specifically mentioned the Corporate Affairs Commission’s reforms and service delivery. The Vice President, who is also the Chairman of the PEBEC Council, commended CAC and the other top five agencies that scored 100 per cent for their outstanding strides in regulatory reforms based on the 120-day RRA.
It is also pertinent to note that in August this year, the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) awarded the CAC Gold Level Award for Excellent Service Delivery.
The BPSR Award was the outcome of a compliance report spurred by the federal government’s directives, which mandated the BPSR to facilitate the deployment of the self-assessment tool (SAT) across all Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and submit quarterly status reports to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Similarly, the CAC, in October 2024, emerged as the Best Federal MDA Digital Service Portal during the Nigeria Govtech Public Service Awards held in Abuja organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms while the Registrar-General, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, was awarded Govtech Trailblazers Award for implementing far-reaching reforms.
In recognition of the impact of the quality of its services on the business environment, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) awarded the Commission a new Quality Management System Certificate: ISO 9001: 2015 in October 2023 after due inspection of its entire processes and service timelines.
Notably, all of the above recognitions would not have been possible if the Commission had not performed based on set targets and deliverables.
However, this newspaper believes that the CAC should interpret these recognitions, commendations, and awards as akin to a golden handcuff necessitating consistency in innovative processes and service delivery that will accord with international best practices. It is often said that the reward for hard work is more work.
We also commend the federal government for putting in place such a beneficial procedure that will set standards for every agency of government involved in regulatory practices and execution of policies aimed at achieving development-related aims and objectives.
In the meantime, other government agencies that did not satisfactorily measure up at this maiden exercise should see it as a call to duty, demanding that they apply themselves diligently to activities that define their existence and relevance in the public service system.