PEBEC Attains 50% Completion of Business Reforms in MDAs

The Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business/Secretary, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, has said a 50 per cent completion rate had been achieved at the end of the 90-day accelerated reform cycle in public agencies.

This followed the completion of the Seventh National Action Plan (NAP 7.0), after the 30-day extension of the previous completion date of April 6, 2022.

The exercise is targeted at implementing reforms for improved efficiency and transparency of Ministries,

Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Oduwole, stated that NAP 7.0 was designed to further reduce the challenges faced by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across four areas namely, agro-export implementation action plan, automation reforms, regulatory reforms, and executive order 01/ReportGov.NG compliance reforms.

She said the reforms included the streamlining and simplification of agoexport regulatory practices with a view to boosting the competitiveness of Nigeria’s agro-exports while enhancing Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings as stated in the agro-export plan.

In a statement, she identified the completed reforms for the NAP 7.0 to include the publication of Insolvency Regulations pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, providing the much-needed support for the operationalisation of the extensive insolvency provisions in the Act.

She also said that enforcement of compliance with Order 172 on the timeline for distribution companies (Discos) to complete new connections for maximum demand users to the distribution grid had commenced.

She explained, “Reform will improve Discos’ turn-around time for connecting maximum demand users. Likewise, the Trademark Registry has resolved previously recurring errors in the manual generation of certificates/recordal documents.”

While thanking the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, for her kind and timely support for the implementation of the reforms, she added that the PEBEC Secretariat will continue to work with MDAs to deliver the outstanding reforms for the benefit of micro, small and medium scale enterprises and the Nigerian economy even after the NAP 7.0 window closes.