PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari had reacted on his twitter account to the news of Nigeria’s latest ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business on October 24, 2019, thus: “Nigeria’s 15-place rise on the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business Index is welcome news. We‘re now ranked 131st, from 146th last year; and up 39 places since 2016, when we established the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC). Our goal is a Top 70 position by 2023″.
Three months after, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, would, at the annual Corporate Dinner and Merit Awards organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), re-echo precisely the same words. Acknowledging that the council “set up to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make the country an increasingly easier place to start and grow a business” has done a yeoman’s job, he equally restated the president’s Top 70 goal to underscore that he meant business.
We understand the concerns of the Federal Government. In a world where perception about the environment plays a major role in investment decisions, the yearly ranking has not only become popular but would come handy as reference for business players in the global arena. It therefore goes without saying that a country which seeks to be a leading investment destination cannot but pay attention to the World Bank ranking.
Here, the problem arises when the government plays up its import while paying less heed to domestic economic dynamics which in the end determines whether or not a firm would thrive or even survive.
Agreed, steady progress is being made on the annual global Ease of Doing Business. A number of business processes and procedures are being streamlined to ensure that business can move at a faster pace. As for rules and regulations, we understand that some things are beginning to change, although to a limited extent. On the whole however, the reality is that the country still has a long way to go. Put simply, whereas the procedures for getting a start-up on board may have been eased; it is hardly a guarantee that the business would survive the first year.
Nigerians, as indeed, the global investment community, know why. The infrastructural challenge remains impregnable. Not only have the ports, despite years of reforms, remained a cog in the wheel of business, they are today everything that the strategic national assets should not be. As for the roads and railway infrastructure, they have only recently begun to receive attention after several decades of neglect. The same with the power sector infrastructure: it remains hopelessly antediluvian.
Of course, corruption remains rife and this is not restricted to the public sector. From the policemen extorting motorists on the highway, to the big government bureaucrat refusing to undertake a public duty until a bribe is paid. It extends to the banks with their predatory lending. Whether at the nation’s entry points or offices, simple processes that could be automated to ease things up are not implemented; and when done, they are done haphazardly. The result is not just that costs are driven up, avenues are created for corrupt officials to prey upon. To cap this is a hopelessly sluggish judicial system, and now the growing disdain for the rule of law by high officials. If we add the wave of insecurity across the federation, it should be easy to understand why we believe that the Federal Government has tended to place too much emphasis on the rating by the World Bank.
These are what the Federal Government should focus on; not targets that might come to mean nothing. Without that, current exertions might come to chasing appearances over substance in the end.
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