Business
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) says Federal Government’s aspiration to move the country to top 100 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index by 2020 is achievable.
Mr Muda Yusuf, the Director-General of LCCI, expressed the optimism in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
He said that if the country could move 24 steps on the index within about two years ago, it was equally possible to move higher by 2020.
“It is important for the government to commit to the achievement of that goal and if they do the right thing, it will be achievable.
“It is good to be ambitious about some of these things, even if they move to top 120 or 130, it is still an improvement.
“I commend their aspirations to improve our ranking on the Ease of Doing Business as it shows that they are committed to improvement,” he said.
According to him, trade across border is one of the parameters in the ease of doing business index and the country’s ranking under the parameter is very low.
“We are about the last five or three and this performance is extremely low, there is a lot of work to be done in that area.
“We need to get the Customs service to key into the ease of doing business agenda because they are not yet on board,” he said.
He lauded the remarkable improvement in the entry and exit at the airports and also the Visa on Arrival policy.
Yusuf also commended the Nigeria Immigration Service for the launch of the 10-year passport, but said that the ease of getting the passport was very vital.
He said that there was still a lot of touting in the reforms that were taking place and urged the government to eliminate touting which often led to price hike and caused unnecessary financial burden to the citizens, thereby defeating the purpose.
NAN recalls that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) announced a goal to move Nigeria into the top-100 on the 2020 World Bank Doing Business Index (DBI).
Nigeria is ranked 146 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the 2018 World Bank annual ratings.
The country’s rank deteriorated to 146 in 2018 from 145 in 2017.
Nigeria had in 2017 moved 24 places from its 2016 spot of 169 to 145. (NAN)
– Jan. 23, 2019 @ 01:05 GMT |
Tags: Top 100 economy in ease of doing business ranking possible for Nigeria – LCCI
