For Nigeria to rank tops in the global Doing Business Index, it must create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
This will involve providing an economic direction, macro economic stability, expansion of public infrastructure and other measures that help to enthrone an investment friendly environment.
A ministerial nominee, Okechukwu Enelamah stated this on Wednesday, while responding to questions from senators at the ministerial screening in Abuja.
Enelamah, an ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker, who heads Nigeria’s largest private equity firm, submitted that in creating an enabling environment, government should not be an active player and a regulator at the same time. He likened it to being a judge in one’s own case.
Enelamah further said, “The final thing has to do with infrastructure. I believe that by creating both the soft infrastructure which is judiciary and security and the hard infrastructure like power, roads, rail, then people can come in and conduct their own business”.
According to data released by the World Bank in its annual Ease of Doing Business Measurement, Nigeria ranked 169 among 189 countries.
Although Nigeria moved from 170, its 2015 ranking to 169 in 2016, the largest economy in Africa was outpaced by reform-minded countries in the sub-Saharan sub region.
Other African countries including neighbouring Benin Republic fared much better on how easy it is to start a business in their countries.
The report showed that developing economies quickened the pace of their business reforms during the last 12 months to make it easier for local businesses to start and operate. Nigeria however, continues to lag behind as other countries introduced measures to fast track businesses.
Investors, the ministerial nominee said, prefer a stable economic climate as security for investments.
On how the Nigerian economy can avoid recession, Enelamah harped on the need for inclusive growth, saying: “The economy is growing at about 3 percent this year. In the past, it was growing at about 7 percent. I believe we can return to 7 percent even higher. The key is to create an enabling environment where the public sector and the private sector can collaborate and attract other investors both internationally and locally, to come into our economy because there are lots of services that are needed and there are investors looking for opportunities to invest”.
The nominee called for diversification of the nation’s economy to avoid reliance on oil, which provides about 70 percent of government revenue.
He blamed tax problems in the country on lack of compliance, calling for urgent need to instill compliance with extant tax laws as a means of revenue generation.
The financial expert identified with the vision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying Nigeria must run an inclusive economy that will create shared prosperity for all citizens.
He said: “There are some things that we must do right: we need to build an economy that creates jobs and opportunities. I believe that we have to increase our capacity to invest in physical and social infrastructure. We need to increase our revenue, particularly the non-oil revenue in a way that will be significant enough to make us comparable to what we see in other countries.
“No economy can succeed without having a social contract with its people and part of this contract is to ensure that citizens pay their taxes and companies pay their taxes. If you look at the tax we collect in this country, compared to all our peers, it is quite small; I believe that Nigeria will do well to be part of that social contract”.
The Senate will today confirm the remaining 18 ministerial nominees.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE
