The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has released the report on the 2024 Half-Year transparency and efficiency compliance on ease of doing business in Nigeria.

The report, which took cognisance of the prevailing economic situation, occasioned by the reforms introduced by the new government, noted, “While businesses have faced some challenges as a result of ongoing reforms, we are optimistic that staying the course and completing these key reforms will result in significant improvements in the business climate across Nigeria in 2024.”

It said that sustained economic growth driven by improved productivity across multiple sectors is the only antidote for the current economic challenges.
The report showed that the number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that scored above 50 per cent in their efficiency compliance increased from eight as revealed in the 2023 report to 20 MDAs in 2024.

A key learning from this year’s half-year report showed that the 90-day Regulatory Reform Accelerator (RRA) played a critical role in driving the performance of MDAs in the half-year compliance report. However, a key observation was that MDAs, which showed consistency with the monthly Transparency & Efficiency reports, were able to better deliver the Reform Accelerator.

The top-ranked MDAs were led by the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) with an 80.1 per cent score, followed by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) with a 78.2 per cent score, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) with a 74.8 per cent score.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) secured the fourth and fifth positions, scoring 73.9 per and 73.2 per cent, respectively.

The report, which showed that significant progress has been made by the MDAs, noted that the 2024 Half-Year report spotlighted the urgent need for MDAs to strengthen their efforts on high-quality service delivery to rapidly improve the productivity and competitiveness of Nigeria’s business environment.

Special Adviser to the President on PEBEC & Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole at a recent media event, commended the MDAs that made great improvements noting that they were ranked in order of their compliance in providing services in an efficient, timely, and customer-friendly manner.

“While we acknowledge the hard work and progress made by the MDAs in delivering critical services to the business community, the business climate, both locally and globally, continues to experience turbulence, characterised by uncertainties and rapid changes,” she noted.