President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday that Nigeria would be one of the top countries on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index in the next three years.
Nigeria is currently ranked 169 out of 189 countries on the bank’s 2016 Ease of Doing Business report.
But Buhari said the Federal Government was committed to ensuring that the country moved up 20 places in the first year and be in the top 100 within the next three years.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke at a plenary session on “Dialogue with the Private Sector” at the sixth Tokyo International Conference for African Development holding in Nairobi, Kenya.
He said his administration was implementing policies and measures to create the right and enabling environment for business and investors in Nigeria.
He told the gathering that included several African leaders, the Japan Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and international business executives that his administration’s vision was to make Nigeria one of the top investment destinations in the world, within the shortest time possible.
He said his administration had therefore established the Presidential Enabling Environment Council and Inter-Ministerial Council with the responsibility of driving the move.
The President said, “One of the most important priorities of our government is to create the right and enabling environment for business and investors in Nigeria.
“Our vision and objective is to make Nigeria one of the most attractive and the easiest places of doing business in the world. We believe government has a particular responsibility to create the right and attractive environment for business and economic activities to thrive.
“In furtherance of this vision, we have launched the Presidential Enabling Environment Council, and Inter-Ministerial Council to oversee the efforts of the government to remove various bottlenecks that stifle businesses and economic activities and thereby creating economic activities, the right enabling environment and investment climate in Nigeria.
“The secretariat will include strong private sector representation that will be led by experienced business professionals from the private sector. We are committed to moving up the ranking of the World Bank’s ease of doing business index 20 places in first year and be in the top 100 within the next three years.”
Meanwhile, the Pesident has said that the government will sustain concrete measures aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economy by devoting more resources to agriculture in the 2017 budget.
Shehu, in a separate statement on Sunday quoted Buhari as saying this while granting an interview on the sidelines of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Nairobi.
The President also said African countries, including Nigeria, must learn from Japan how to develop agriculture.
He said the extra votes that would be allocated to agriculture in next year’s budget would cover areas such as procurement of machinery for land clearing, fertilizers, pesticides and training of less-educated farmers.
Punch
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Mr.President has spoken by isolating agriculture,as a priority project that would be funded more in 2017. Good talk,however,the President Buhari’sadministration must come up with a creative direction,by investing “policy capital”. Then,look for social entrepreneurs that will come up fresh idea and innovation that will make agric farming profitable and taxable, as a sustainable vehicle for mass food production,export,job and wealth creation along our rural-urban corridors, in clusters, nationwide. For too long,agric represents 40% of economy/GDP,but pays no income taxes,because is not profitable and is associated with poverty. Thus,if innovation is identified with well-outlined implementation dynamics in sequence-riding on a 3month-3year short, 3-6year mid-term and 6-10year long-term developmental-growth-expansion goals’ delivery,then there will be LEAP in Nigerian economic miracle push. Finally,this innovation will enable us break patterns in ways of doing things in unusual different ways,by starting with plucking of the low hanging fruits in taxable wealth creation via the simultaneous promotion of. volume production and. Value added export on 6 continents. This, will go along way in giving economic empowerment to the over 30milion economic entities that will create and own taxable wealth,because we would have succeeded in removing the huge-high cost of doing business in Nigeria,while simplifying easy access to equity financing model,as a substitution strategy to the difficult to access bank loans that comes at 25-30% (double digit) interest rates. Above all, there is the need for the 3tiers of government leaders to listen and learn lesson from HRM Lamido Sanusi II,the Emir of Kano candid advice. Chief Olusegun Adegbite Kowontan, President, Project Fix. Nigeria, D/L: +234-0705-646-4244, 0802-375-0305. The Nigeria House, 13b,Aina George street, Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Lagos. http://www.projectfixnigeria.com