The several reforms carried out by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC will boost Nigeria’s local and Foreign Direct Investment, FDI drive, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed.
The Vice President’s media aide, Laolu Akande disclosed this after the PEBEC’s team met to review the state of reforms in Nigeria and analyzed what else needed to be done.
The Vice President disclosed during the meeting that various business reforms the country has put in place have received applause from the World Bank, even as the country’s ease of doing business rankings have been improving due to policies implemented by PEBEC.
“The business reforms of President Muhammadu Buhari administration through the PEBEC is an opportunity to significantly boost local and foreign direct investment in Nigeria. There is a lot of room for improvements and we shall use the opportunity to press on the business reforms we started years ago which has been winning the country praise and, better placement in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking. Tough challenges lie ahead but there is no relenting” Osinbajo stated.
He also added that Nigeria has so much potential, thanks to its numerous resources and the Buhari-led administration’s determination to work with the opportunities on the ground.
Recall that in 2016, President Buhari set up PEBEC with the aim of minimizing the constraints that come with running businesses in the country.
The council put together reforms geared toward making it more convenient for business owners to thrive and aimed at improving Nigeria’s ease of doing business perception. In 2017, PEBEC released a 60- Day National Action Plan on its Ease of Doing Business which it implemented from February to April. In total, PEBEC completed 31 reforms in 60 days across the Economic Council’s eight priority indicators. All these were aimed at improving Nigeria’s business rankings.
These efforts to improve Nigeria’s ease of doing business are indicative of the government’s commitment to attracting more foreign direct investment into the country. Foreign investors typically consider a number of factors before investing in a country, one of which is the ease of doing business.
The efforts of the PEBEC has been generating results. The country now ranks 131 on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 Index recently released. Nigeria moved up 15 places from its 2019 spot and has been tagged as one of the most improved economies in the world for running a business.
