Doing Business In
Nigeria Report Due In March
The
World Bank says it will launch its ’’Doing Business in
Nigeria 2010’’ report in Abuja in March.
According to a statement, the report would show how the 36
states and the FCT rank against one another and how far they had
progressed since the last edition two years ago.
The report comes against the background of the Nigerian
government’s implementation of the Investment Climate Programme
(ICP), with support from the World Bank and the Department for
International Development (DFID).
The programme is aimed at improving the business environment. A
key component of the ICP is the ‘Peer Learning’ programme, a
process by which states share best practices on reforms in
identified key areas.
The peer learning programme, the statement said, would be a
useful way for all Nigerians to measure the country’s progress,
as it would show how the states rank against one another in
facilitating enabling business environments.
Representatives of the Ministries of Land from Kano, Kaduna,
Lagos and Cross River States had met in Abuja in December to
discuss reforms that had been taking place under the (ICP).
The meeting focused on land administration reform and it was
preceded by a workshop on tax administration in October 2009.
Another workshop on investor information has been scheduled for
January 27th in Abuja.
Milestones by states
The workshops are a key part of the Peer Learning component of
ICP, which involves states documenting and presenting successful
good practices they have implemented in the areas of land
administration, tax administration and investor information,
with other states learning from their experiences and adapting
the practices.
The statement said presentations by states at the recent ICP
Peer Learning workshop on Land Administration Reform revealed
that in Kaduna State, it now takes about 100 days to
obtain a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), as against 365
days previously, and that consent for a mortgage could also be
secured in a day.
The Cross River state government reported that it had put in
place a direct bank payment system, thereby increasing state
revenues and leading to faster processing of applications.
The Kano state government said it had instituted automated
tracking of land applications to put a stop to long delays and
reducing the time for obtaining C of O from more than one year
to just 40 days.
The Lagos State Government reported that it had established a
more efficient land registration system, with the introduction
of high-tech electronic document management system.
The development, it said, had resulted in about 10
million land documents converted into electronic format and the
development of an online search facility for land applicants.
’’The peer-learning process may play an important part in
achieving this, and will be a useful way for all Nigerians to
measure the country’s progress,’’ the statement said.
It expressed optimism that by the next edition of the Doing
Business report in 2012, Nigeria should be on course to achieve
her aim of becoming a middle-income country.
NAN/Yinka
