Nigeria has been announced as one of the ten (10) most improved countries in terms of ease of doing business (EOD). The announcement was made today. From its previous 146th position, the country moved up to 131, among 190 nations. Other countries that recorded significant improvements are Saudi Arabia, Togo, Jordan, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, and India.
The metrics used in rating the top countries, regarding ease of doing business, include seamless access to credit facility, availability of electricity, affordable leasing, fast business registration processes, amongst other regulations.
Nigeria has sought to model its economy after Kenya where many small businesses have been cropping up for the past decade to reduce the socio-economic burden on government and larger establishments. The success of mobile money and other-tech but innovative solutions in that country has helped strengthen its GDP, as well as improve its stand on the continent.
While a Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) was set up in 2016 to drive the agenda of creating conducive operating environment for small businesses after the models noted in places such as Kenya, many reforms have been introduced and implemented so far through a strategic approach labelled ‘Listen, Implement, and Track’.
Therefore, the overt commitment of the current administration to making Nigeria conducive for business to flourish has seen Nigeria score over 50% for two consecutive years. The record was arrived at based on the quantitative metrics used in measuring ease of doing business across nations.
