Just as the leadership of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is seeking a review of World Bank parameters in measuring Ease of Doing Business, speakers and stakeholders at a recent ‘Doing Business Series’ held in Lagos has decried weak processes of the Federal Government in driving issues towards the dismantling of hitches bordering on ease of doing business rating for Nigeria.
However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms. Jumoke Oduwole who was the keynote speaker assured that the country would be ranked less than a hundred on the list of ease of doing business by October of this year. Chairing the panel that discussed the impact of elections on the economy and investment, the financial experts projected stability in the economy pre-election, while expecting a slowdown post-election.
In specifics, participants at the Doing Business Series panel as part of the weeklong 40th anniversary celebration of Tokunbo Orimobi in Lagos, listed poor access to information, uncertainties of the operating environment as well as prevailing rules as part of the reasons why the country has been unable to attract needed investments.
In his lead address, the Global chairman, Tokunbo Orimobi LP, Michael Orimobi, who spoke on Doing Business Series with the theme, Business and Investment Opportunities in Nigeria, said reducing ease of doing business in Nigeria remains a holistic challenge not only to the government but business leaders.
According to him, “We would work together on some of the bills that would be passed, hold more events to showcase the country to the world, bring investors together and show why they need to choose Nigeria. We also intend to teach SMEs how to do business properly, access funding, and get investors, all pro-bono. There are ideas but investors would not put money behind ideas but a business so we want to transform ideas into businesses so they can access capital.
“We can only have a small number of Dangotes or Otedolas but we have millions of young people with fantastic ideas and this is where we want to come in. We hope with this, the economy would be better for it; we hope to contribute to the nation’s GDP in our own way even though we won’t make money from it. Businesses need to be ready to take the short-term pain for the long-term gain,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief executive officer, Dunn Loren Merrifield, Sonnie Ayere observed that “There are job losses everywhere, uncertainty about the elections and despite efforts government says it is making, reforms are yet to trickle down to the average Nigerian, so it is difficult to feel the impact of said reforms. Citizens grow the economy and not foreign investors. We must put measures in place to drive the economy because no foreign investor would invest into an economy that’s not thriving”.
