As part of efforts to improve the ease of doing business in Ogun, the state government on Wednesday launched business premises registration portal that allows businesses to register free till December 2021.
Speaking on the move to sustain the state’s status as largest investment hub in the country, Governor Dapo Abiodun said in Abeokuta, that the launch was part of the digitisation policy of his administration aimed at creating the enabling environment for existing businesses to thrive and attract new ones.
The governor, who was represented by Dapo Okubadejo, commissioner for finance and chairman of Ogun State Business Environment Council, explained that through the registration portal, the government would be able to plan for the provision of infrastructure, security, power, environmental management as well as to offer other relevant facilities for businesses in the state.
“In the past, business permit registration had been done manually. But when the Business Environment Council was established and the Technical Working Group on starting a business ‘started work, in line with our digitisation initiative, we decided that this registration process must be automated. The automation process has been tested and this portal is very interactive.”
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He, however, urged all the categories of businesses operating in the state to register their business on the portal for free via businesspermit.ogunstate.gov.ng from September 1 till December 31, 2021 adding that the government had waived all backlogs on Business Premises Permit Registration in the state.
Kikelomo Longe, commissioner for industry, trade and investment, said with the launch of the portal the state has fully automated its business registration process, adding that the full automation makes the process easier while also reducing cost.
She noted that with the automation process, ” the state will be ranked number one on the Starting a Business Index of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking which is scheduled for 2022″.
Speaking separately, Seleem Adegunwa, chairman, Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN); Femi Egbesola, national president, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON); and Akinwunmi Alonge, chairman, Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), lauded the state government for developing the portal as well as the decision to make the registration free, assuring that they would mobilise their members to register on the platform.
