Over-regulation killing businesses in Nigeria – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday advocated for reorientation on the exercise of regulatory authorities in order for businesses and investors to thrive in Nigeria.

Osinbajo made the call following a report of an ad-hoc committee of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, (PEBEC), on agro-export and the presentation of a National Action Plan 7.0 at the Presidential Villa.

Osinbajo, who presided over the first PEBEC meeting this year, said there was a problem “if people who want to export cannot export due to what seems like too many regulations.

According to him, “ there are too many regulatory requirements. Too many regulations kill output. We have to take a second look at how we regulate. Over-regulation is killing businesses. It kills investments. An agric exporter can’t export perishable produce after months.”

Osinbajo also decried long processes of product certifications in Nigeria while businesses from outside the country with swift regulatory regimes will then bring the same products into the country to sell.

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“Because our certification processes are slow, others from outside (neighbouring countries based on an ECOWAS agreement) with faster processes can bring their products and sell here, while our own businesses are still on the queues of regulatory agencies,” the VP observed.

Earlier, the PEBEC Secretariat presented a report of the ad-hoc committee where it was revealed among others that: The exportation flow as regards payment and verification is extremely cumbersome.

That exporters complained about the “imposition of the NAFEX rate on export proceeds, which limits their access to foreign exchange and their inability to utilise their export proceeds. (For instance, dollars domiciled in exporters’ accounts cannot be utilised for freight payment for export).

That there were “multiple physical cargo examinations by pre-shipment inspection agencies.

That there were also “multiple and sometimes overlapping documentation requirements” from government regulatory agencies.

The council, therefore, resolved to approve an agro-export action plan that will remedy the situation and also approved a 60-day National Action Plan 7.0 that continues the ease of doing business reforms of the Buhari administration. The plan kicks off on February 7, 2022.