NACCIMA laments deteriorating ease of doing business, planned VAT increase

The National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ide John Udeagbaala, has regretted the degenerating ease of doing business in the country, which he said has put a serious strain on production.

Speaking yesterday at a media briefing on the state of the nation, Udeagbaala said this, amongst other factors, has resulted in the accelerated decline in local production. He revealed that in 2019 when the Federal Government began trumpeting its programme on the ease of doing business (EoDB), it made significant progress as the country leaped forward 15 places to 131 out of 190 countries.

According to the World Bank global ranking, the country was adjudged one of the 10 most improved economies on the ease of doing business. He lamented that recent statistics on the gross domestic product (GDP) from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show a degenerating ease of doing business across the country.

This, he said, has put a strain on the production industry, resulting in a decline in growth rate.

“For example, Nigeria’s growth rate declined from 5.01 in Q, in 2021 to 4.03 in Q; of the same year. It went down to 3.98 in Q4 of 202 1 and Q, of 2022 dropped further to 3.11. This spiral decline has continued unabated. Many of the challenges impeding the ease of doing business in Nigeria include multiple taxation, multiple exchange rates, constant government policies somersaults, poor infrastructure, high cost of power and so on.

“NACCIMA as the voice of organised private sector in Nigeria (OPSN) calls on the government to consider these impending factors affecting the EoDB and implement the various solutions we have suggested in time past for lasting solutions to these myriads of challenges. Collaboration with the OPSN and implementations of suggested solutions to these challenges will help ginger the economy back to inclusive growth and development,” he said.

He expressed grave worry over the recent proposal by the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to increase the value-added tax (VAT) charges from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.

He said the chamber had in the past highlighted the negative impact of the 2022 Finance Bill, which would increase the financial burden on the OPSN.
He noted: “We expressed our fears that any further tax increase on businesses may lead to the shutdown of many small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and worsen the unemployment crisis in the country.”