FG commences 7th 60-day action plan on ease of doing business

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has commenced the seventh National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) to drive systemic business climate reforms in line with the federal government’s commitment to improving the business environment in Nigeria.

NAP was introduced for the first time in February 2017, and has since become a signature homegrown 60-day accelerator and reform tool designed to coordinate the effective delivery of priority reforms of select Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) annually.

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Speaking at the formal launch and stakeholder engagement on NAP 7.0. Monday in Abuja, the PEBEC Secretary and Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said that the seventh NAP was designed to break away from the recent lacklustre performances of the fifth and sixth NAP editions which ended at 44 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

The PEBEC approved the NAP 7.0. at its first meeting of 2022 held on February 1. NAP 7.0, which will run from February 7 to April 7, 2022, aims to further reduce the challenges faced by MSMEs across five areas: Agro-Export Implementation Action Plan, Automation Reforms, Regulatory Reforms, Legislative/Judicial Reforms and Executive Order 01/ReportGov.NG compliance reforms.

Dr Oduwole further said, “The reforms include the streamlining and simplification of agro-export regulatory practices with a view to boosting the competitiveness of Nigeria’s agro-exports while enhancing Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings as stated in the Agro-Export Plan.

NAP 7.0 seeks to intensify effort at improving the travel experience at airports and to strengthen the automation of the business incorporation process of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Other reforms include the establishment of Small Claims Court across more states of the federation, as well as to drive adoption of electronic filing of taxes by taxpayers.

At the end of the 60-day window, it is expected that MSMEs will experience an enhanced trademark registration process with vast improvements in the tracking and evaluation of MDAs’ compliance with the directives of the Executive Order 01 (EO1).