Many regulations will hamper businesses, CPPE warns

Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has raised concerns over overbearing regulatory practices, including disproportionate sanctions, obstructive actions, and excessive fines and penalties, which have resulted in significant frustration and frustration for businesses and investments.

The Director and Chief Executive Officer, CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, gave the warning, yesterday.These actions, CPPE contended, had repressed investment and weakened stakeholder engagement, saying it ran counter to the current administration’s efforts to create an enabling environment for investment in the country.

Yusuf noted that public pronouncements by some of the agencies had inadvertently damaged the reputation of local brands, undermining efforts to boost domestic production, grow investment, expand exports, earn foreign exchange and create jobs.

He called on regulatory bodies to recognise the challenging environment in which local businesses were currently operating, marked by exchange rate volatility and depreciation, high energy costs, high electricity tariff and cost of logistics, weak purchasing power, soaring inflation, high cost of funds, high cost of cargo clearing, insecurity in parts of the country, among other issues.

The CPPE boss said many businesses were grappling with profound and multifaceted economic headwinds, with several large companies reporting significant losses, scaling down operations, shutting down or exiting the country entirely.