World Bank advocates single regulatory authority for free zones at Reps public hearing

The World Bank has advocated for a single regulatory authority for the regulation of the operations of free zones in Nigeria.
The global bank made its position known at a public hearing organised by House of Representatives Committee on Commerce through its senior operations officer, Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, Craig Raymond Giesze.
The public hearing was organised by the House with the aim of getting input from stakeholders in respect of the proposed amendment to the Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority (OGEFZA) Act.
According to Giesze, the World Bank has always advised countries seeking to attract investments into their economies through their free zones “to always adopt the single regulatory authority regime for a number of reasons based on knowledge garnered over the years of what foreign investors look out for in an economy.”
Speaking further, he explained: “Beyond the fact that a single regulatory authority is the global best practice, the benefits include the reduction in administrative costs, long-term stability and the safety of investment which cumulatively lead to investor-confidence in the economy.”
In his opening remarks, the chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, Sylvester Ogbaga, said the aim of the public hearing was for stakeholders to make input that would assist the Committee in amending the proposed OGEFZA Act based on global best practice.
Earlier in their submissions, both the Managing Director of OGEFZA, Chief Umana O. Umana, and his NEPZA counter-part, Emmanuel Jime, commended the House for taking the initiative to amend the Act, adding that the supervisory Ministry of Trade and Investment was working towards presenting a harmonized position on the matter to the House Committee.
Also speaking, a legal practitioner representing Snake Island Integrated Zone (SIIFZ), Adewale Dosumu, advised the Committee to also look at the three presidential review committees, which recommended the merging of OGEFZA with NEPZA so as to achieve an effective and efficient single regulatory regime in Nigeria.

 

Olusola Bello