Boosting Nigeria’s ranking on ease of doing business via standards

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is currently ranked 131 out of 190 economies in the world on ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings.

although Nigeria recorded some improvement after moving 15 places from 146 in 2018, stakeholders in the sector, however, project that the country will trend around 135 in the global ranking in 2023.

The Ease of Doing Business ratings ranks countries based on how the regulatory environment is conducive to business operation through simpler and friendly regulations for businesses, and stronger protections of property rights by governments, among other key variables.

There are several factors as highlighted by experts that influence Nigeria’s business environment such as security, economic policies, and government regulations, among others. A report by the United Kingdom, UK, Department of International Trade: Overseas Business: Nigeria, notes that the Nigerian economy is characterised by extreme inequality and significant economic disparities between the North and the South, poor infrastructure, a complex and opaque regulatory environment, corruption and a fast-growing population.

While the Nigerian government has put several policies and programmes to create enabling environment for business and foreign direct investment to thrive, experts say that improving standards plays will a key role in improving Nigeria’s ranking.

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An agency of the Federal Government that plays this role is the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). The Core mandate of the Organisation is to establish and enforce standards and quality so as to forestall the influx of substandard products into the country and also ensure that industries stay afloat and sustain production from the standpoint of quality assurance.

The organisation is known for nurturing Micro, Small and Medium Scale and Enterprises (MSMEs) over the years through training and certification of their products especially those ready for export outside the shores of Nigeria.

The organisation has over recent times put in place effective policies and robust standards to create an enabling environment for both investors and local businesses.

To appreciate the role played by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, (SON) to achieve the height in ensuring standards in every sphere of the economy, the Federal Government recently returned SON to the port several years after being removed alongside several government regulatory agencies.

The reinstatement of SON to the port among several other feats recorded by the grade “A” government standards agency was a reflection of the unique quality and purposeful leadership of the Director-General and Chief Executive of the SON, Farouk Salim who pledged to change the narrative against all odds.

Salim-led administration in the shortest period of his assumption of office has been in the forefront of facilitating businesses to thrive and grow in Nigeria by ensuring that its processes are captured online to enable prospective clients, stakeholders, prospective partners and customers to assess most services online without any difficulty.

This is by ensuring maximum support to the MSMEs by reducing drastically the costs of standards by half to enable them effectively apply the requirements to whatever goods they produce or services they carry out.

This feat and many others have not gone unnoticed as the Organisation recently received an award as the best government agency for showing resilience both in conduct and operation of Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council.

The SON was also conferred with an award in the category of “Institution in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria” by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The Director General, recently at an award dinner said: “The award was an attestation to the hard work and dedication put in by SON staff all across the country to ensure that industries are constantly inspected so that consumer end-products are beneficial to consumers who will drive demand by their use, and with demands, more production and the economy will thrive for the better.”

Based on the stride recorded by SON in ensuring sanity in the nation’s economy, expectations are that the agency continues to prioritise its key mandate of providing the manufacturing and industrial sectors the requisite standards, quality assurance and technical know-how for the overall benefit of Nigeria.