MINISTER of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah, has said that the National Action Plan, NAP-60 Plan, which major objective is to promote the ease of doing business in the country would save Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, in the country about N2.6 billion in registration cost annually.
Enelamah, who spoke at the Citibank Nigeria Limited special clients event tagged, Citi China Day, and themed, Chinese Investment in Nigeria: A win-win Partnership, hosted in Lagos, said that the NAP-60 has also led to 130 per cent increase in access to credit by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, as well as 60 per cent reduction in property registration time.
Represented by his Special Adviser, Olubunmi Adeboye, Enelamah said that as a result of the conclusion of NAP-60, the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has moved the entire business registration process online, thereby reducing time required to register a business from 10 to two days, while the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, now coordinates physical examination of cargo, resulting in reduction in touch points between importers and government agencies to one.
Other remarkable successes recorded by the initiative, according to him, include enhancement by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, of its online functionality including e-submission of Visa-on-arrival application as well as implementation of extensive reforms at Abuja Airport by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, with plan to replicate same in Lagos Airport among others. Presenting a paper titled Positioning for Economic Recovery, he said that the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan, ERGP, of the federal government is set to address the rising domestic debt profile, which currently stands at N11.91 trillion, the exchange rate tension as well as structural weakness, mono-product economy and import dependency.
In her opening remark, Mrs. Nneka Enwereji, Executive Director and Head of Global Subsidiaries Group, Citi Nigeria, noted that the bank provides its Chinese partners with valuable content and share best practices that would help them navigate the business environment.
Culled from Vanguard