LASG CHARGES PERSONNEL TO PROMOTE ‘EASE OF DOING BUSINESS’ CULTURE

The Director-General, Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI), Mr. Toba Otusanya has charged Desk Officers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to promote a work culture that will engender an environment for businesses to thrive in the State.

Speaking at a one-day workshop on Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Reforms, organised by the OTCI in conjunction with the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) for Desk Officers of Focal MDAs related to Construction Permit and Registering Property Reforms in Lagos State at Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Otusanya said the workshop became necessary to bridge the communication gap that has hindered the public from harnessing the benefits inherent in these EODB Reforms.

He said the forum was convened to empower Desk Officers who would interface with the public with relevant information needed to perform their EODB assigned responsibilities professionally and effectively.

According to him, the relevance of the training cannot be over-emphasised, especially considering that Lagos plays a critical role in Nigeria’s EODB space, contributing about 77% of the data used in analysing Nigeria’s performance on the EODB World Bank Initiative ranking.

Otusanya added that since the top 100 companies in Nigeria, including Multinationals, have their headquarters in Lagos, it is very important that the business environment is made conducive for these companies to thrive such that it would have a positive impact on our economy.

While wishing participants a fruitful deliberation, the DG urged them to listen attentively, gain the necessary information required to improve the business environment in Lagos and Nigeria at large.

On his part, Mr. Soji Akinyele, the Reform Leader and representative of the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), an affiliate of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), said the office was set up to oversee the EODB Programme across the country with special focus on Lagos and Kano, the two commercial nerve centres in Nigeria and the two States used by the World Bank to assess Nigeria on the EODB ranking.

He said 190 countries are being assessed based on their economic prosperity and how conducive their business environments are, stressing that the ultimate focus is to rank Nigeria among the first 100 countries on the EODB list by taking a cue from the practices of highly ranked countries.

“Our target is to be ranked within the first 100 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index by Y2020, although Nigeria is not there yet, it is a journey of continuous improvement”, he stated.

Akinyele explained that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) chaired by the Vice President came into being as a result of the urgent need to address the harsh business environment, remove bottlenecks as well as bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria, and come up with Reforms that would make Nigeria a great place for businesses to thrive.

He noted that PEBEC’s EODB model aligns with global best practice with a strong performance tracking element that ensures MDAs are accountable for reform implementation and are expected to escalate issues where necessary.