There is no doubt that President Muhammadu administration has recorded modest achievements in the last five years, despite the daunting challenges faced by the administration.
The achievements are mostly visible in the area of Agriculture where the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, has made available more than 200 billion Naira in funding to more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers of 16 different commodities (Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Cassava, Poultry, Soy Beans, Groundnut, Fish), cultivating over 1.4 million hectares of farmland.
The ABP has substantially raised local production of rice, doubling the production of paddy as well as milled rice between 2015 and 2019.
The government also established more than 10 new rice mills came on-stream in Nigeria, between 2016 and 2019, even as many of the existing Mills have expanded their capacity; several new ones are under construction.
Within the agricultural sector, more than a billion dollars of private sector investments in the production of Rice, Wheat, Sugar, Poultry, Animal Feed, Fertilizers, etc, since 2015, as the Federal Executive Council approval (2020) for a National Agriculture Mechanization Programme, “the Green Imperative”, in partnership with the Government of Brazil and multilateral financing institutions.
Under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, the President had in January 2017, launched a Government to-government agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco, which has resulted in more than a million metric tonnes of fertilizer produced since 2017. This translated to distribution of more than 18 million 50kg bags of NPK fertilizer in the first three years of the PFI)
Over 22 blending plants were resuscitated (combined installed capacity of more than 2.5m MT), leading to price reduction in fertilizer from 9,000-11,000 per bag, to 5,500
This initiative also led to Foreign exchange savings of $150m annually through the substitution of imported components with locally manufactured ones as government recorded subsidy savings of 50 billion Naira annually
The Buhari administration’s support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, yielded positive response as the Administration launched a series of funding and capacity development initiatives designed to support MSMES:
These include the floating of a new Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), with initial funding of US$1.3 billion (N396.5 billion); to provide medium and long- term loans to MSMES.
Since 2017, the DBN has disbursed a total of N100 billion through the bank’s 27 Participating Financial
Institutions (PFIS) impacting more than 100,000 MSMES, as 52% of loans disbursed in 2019 were to youths and women owned businesses.
The Bank of Industry has disbursed more than N400 billion in loans to large, medium, small and micro enterprises since 2016.
It has also established a N5 Billion Fund for Artisanal Miners, as part of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals Development’s Programme to boost Mining activities in Nigeria; as well as a $20 million Fund to support young technology entrepreneurs in Nigeria
The MSME Clinics, which bring relevant Government Agencies together with small businesses operating in various cities across the country, to enable the Agencies provide direct support to these businesses. The interactions allow the Agencies better understand the issues facing small businesses, and provide a platform for speedy resolution.
The Ease of Doing Business Reform Programme, received support through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment component (GEEP) of the Social Intervention Programme (SIP)
The work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (inaugurated by President Buhari in August 2016) and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) has resulted in Nigeria moving up 39 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2016. In the last 3 years Nigeria has twice been adjudged one of 10 Most Improved Economies in the Rankings.
In addition, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) in 2017 completed a long-overdue revision of the list of activities that can benefit from Nigeria’s Pioneer Status Incentive, which grants beneficiary companies a 3 to 5-year tax holiday. The revision, done more than 10 ten years after the last one, has modernized the List, expanding the tax holiday incentives to qualifying companies in E-commerce, Software Development, Animation, Music, Film and TV.
NIPC has published a Compendium of all Investment incentives in Nigeria, making it easier for existing and potential investors to have equal access to the information.
Some of the specific Ease of Doing Business Reform achievements include the asent by President Buhari to the Finance Bill, 2019.
The Finance Act, 2019 is the first time Nigeria is accompanying the passage of a Budget with complementary fiscal and business environment reforms legislation. The 2020 Budget is also the first time in 12 years that a Federal Budget has been restored to the January-december cycle.
This also led to the creation of a National Collateral Registry (NCR). A NCR or Movable Assets Registry was established by the Central Bank of Nigeria, in May 2016. The NCR allows small businesses to get access to loans using movable assets – machinery, livestock, and inventory – as collateral. As of the end of June 2018, the NCR online portal had registered 630 financial institutions. Between inception in 2016 and April 2020, these financial institutions had recorded a total of 65,370 moveable assets on the portal, belonging to 165,456 borrowers, and valued at 1.26 Trillion Naira
Government efforts resulted in the automation of business name reservation, submission of registration documents, payment of registration fees, generation of Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), and filing of federal Taxes, and implementation of functioning Visa-on-arrival system for Business Visitors and AU nationals.
President Buhari in January 2019, launched Nigeria’s Micro Pension Scheme – which allows self-employed persons and persons working in organisations with less than 3 employees to save for the provision of pension at retirement or incapacitation.
The Administration is also prioritizing the payment of pension arrears owed staff of current and privatized/ defunct Federal agencies, with the release of N54 billion to settle outstanding 33% pension arrears (the 33% pension arrears date back to 2010 when the minimum wage was increased to N18, 000).
The Delta Steel Company (liquidated in 2005, had its 3,542 pensioners fully placed on the payroll, ending a 13-year wait for their entitlements.
Similarly, NITEL’S 9,216 pensioners were payrolled, after more than a decade of neglect
The President in his historic decision helped the retired Biafran Police Officers (dismissed by the Federal Government in 1971, after the Civil War ended, and pardoned by President Obasanjo in 2000), by approving the payment of their pensions, unpaid since their pardon in 2000. This amounted to N571.56 million, paid to a total of 174 beneficiaries in October 2017
In a related development, Nigeria Airways staff had approval and the release of N24 billion payment in September 2018, for the settlement of 50% of workers disengaged when the airline was liquidated in 2003/4.
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has recovered cash and non-cash assets totaling N16 billion previously trapped in various insurance companies and underwriters managing the pension funds of Federal Parastatals and Universities.
The President also Launch a new Tax Identification Number ( TIN) Registration System in 2019.
For the first time, Nigeria has a consolidated, unified database of all taxpayers (individual and corporate), across all States.
This new System is the product of increased collaboration between FIRS and States’ Inland Revenue Services (through improved sharing of information, and an integration of databases, among others)
The new TIN Registration system leverages on existing taxpayer data available from databases of multiple organizations like Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Banks through Bank Verification Number (BVN), National Identity Card Management Commission (NIMC) and others.
The improved collaboration between FIRS and the various SIRS’ has resulted in an increase in Nigeria’s “Tax Net” (number of paying and non-paying individuals and companies in the Tax Database) from 13 million as at December 2015 to 35 million at the end of 2018, and a projected 45 million by the end of 2019.
Government under this administration, approved the establishment of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations by the Economic Management Team (EMT). The NOTN has produced Nigeria’s first Annual National Trade Report, and is compiling, for the first time in Nigeria’s history, a comprehensive database of Nigerian Trade Deals and Agreements.
The Renminbi-naira Swap Agreement between the Peoples Bank of China and the Central Bank of
Nigeria, also came on board in April 27, 2018, as the CBN signed a 3-year bilateral currency swap agreement with the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), worth Chinese Yuan (CNY) 15 billon – equivalent to N720.00 billon or US$2.5 billion.
Budget proposal submission, which used to be done manually (submissions in hard copy and flash drives) has moved to an online platform, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), since 2018. The new Budget Submission System significantly improves the transparency and efficiency of the budgeting system.
This administration also restored the Federal Budget from January to December cycle, with the 2020 Budget, for the first time in 12 years.
The administration also approved Installation of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) – a global travel security standard – in 5 Nigerian International Airports, commencing in late 2019, with the support and collaboration of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This MIDAS is linked to Local and International Criminal Dabatases / Watchlists (INTERPOL etc), and achieves real- time synchronization of data between all of Nigeria’s International Airports and the NIS Headquarters in Abuja. It ultimately creates a faster and more efficient airport experience, while also ensuring that persons crossing Nigeria’s borders through the Airports do not pose any threats to national and international security.
Accompanying the installation of MIDAS, is the launch of a New Visa Policy, 2020 by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), as part of a broader 5-year Border Strategy Reform (2019 – 2023).
A new Visa Policy was introduced incorporating the expansion of Visa Categories from 6 to 79, to reflect and cater to the full range of realities and scenarios for intending travelers to Nigeria.
Government also approved the introduction of evisas, which carry biometric information of visa holders. The evisa issuance system is linked to MIDAS, automation of Visa Issuance and Payment to reduce human contact and associated corruption.
The Visa on Arrival Policy expanded to all holders of African Passports starting January 2020.
President Buhari in 2019 also assented to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Bill, the first legislation in Nigeria’s history focused on curbing anti-competition practices; and the establishment of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Under Debt Management, the Buhari administration, between 2017 and now, Nigeria issued its first ever Diaspora Bond, in the International Capital Market.
The Diaspora Bond was US$300 million with a tenor of 5-years. The proceeds were used to part–finance the 2017 Budget.
