… Lauds FG on Ease of Doing Business ranking
… Says 2019 eventful for Chamber
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned that inflation will most likely trend higher in coming months considering continued shut down of the land borders, implementation of new minimum wage, proposed hike in VAT rate, festive-related consumer spending and recent flooding incidences which may affect harvesting of food crops.
The outgoing President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase who issued the warning on Thursday while presenting the 2019 Annual Report at the 131st Annual General Meeting of the Chamber in Lagos stated that increasing inflation may further worsen the poverty status of many which according to him called for concerns.
He noted that Headline inflation averaged 11.25% between January and September 2019, which is above Central Bank of Nigeria’s preferred 6% – 9% target and the 9.8% target in the 2019 budget adding that the latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics showed annual inflation in Nigeria rose to 11.24% in September 2019.
While reviewing the business and economic environment in 2019, Mr. Ruwase recalled that data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that economic growth slowed to 1.94% in second quarter of 2019 from 2.1% in the first quarter, bringing half-year growth for 2019 to 2.02%.
He said that Nigeria’s economic growth had not grown fast enough to create opportunities for its populace growing at 2.6%, which according to him called for concern given its attendant impact on poverty and unemployment.
According to him, “The naira has been relatively stable against the US dollar across different market windows. This was largely driven by sustained intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the currency market. We believe the CBN’s continued injection of liquidity into the foreign exchange market to ensure stability of the naira is not sustainable, as a potential crash in global oil prices may weaken the CBN’s ability to defend the naira. Also, the multiplicity of exchange rate windows continues to promote arbitrage and deters foreign investment.”
On Ease of Doing Business, the outgoing President reiterated that Nigeria moved 15-places up the ladder in the 2020 World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report, to 131st from 146th position last year noting that the ranking was Nigeria’s best performance since 2011.
He informed that the Chamber’s analysis of the report showed that Nigeria climbed four spots higher to snatch the 17th position in the Sub-Saharan Africa and jumped two spots higher to claim the 5th spot in West Africa.
“We commend the government on the attainment of this feat which also reflects the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Buisness Environment Council (PEBEC). With this report, Nigeria has moved 39 places in five years, from 170th position in 2015 up to 131st position. However, Nigeria’s ranking in the West African sub region is 5th position. We can do much better as the economic powerhouse of the region.
“However, we note the efforts of the present administration through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and series of Presidential Executive Orders targeted at improving the business environment. We believe that government still have enormous task of fostering an environment where entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises can thrive better. Sound and result oriented business regulations are critical for private sector development.
“While we attribute the improved ranking to the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Council Environment (PEBEC) towards making the business climate more enabling since the council was formed in 2016, we believe that Nigeria can further improve. Regulatory bottlenecks hurting businesses needs to be addressed, insecurity curtailed, infrastructure such as power and road fixed and efforts at ensuring access to credit by businesses vigorously pursued”, he said.
Mr. Ruwase said that the outgoing year of 2019 was characterized by numerous opportunities, achievements and challenges while noting that it had been a very eventful year for the chamber.
He however observed that as investors, they had to contend with the usual constraints of the business environment saying that there were issues of high interest rate, weak GDP Growth, weak consumer demand, traffic gridlock on Lagos port roads, border closure, FOREX exclusion list and insecurity in some parts of the country, among others.
He pointed out that while the economy was able to maintain a positive growth trajectory driven by the recovery of oil price for most part of the year which gave a boost to the macroeconomic fundamentals, Nigeria remained a robust economy with a large market, abundant natural resources and a productive population.
“As a chamber, we have remained resolute in promoting polices that support private sector development and the progress of the economy. We were consistent in our policy advocacy and kept our promise of providing business development services to our members and the larger business community. To the glory of God, we have maintained our leadership position as a leading voice in the Organized Private Sector in Nigeria. This had led to notable rise of the chambers’ profile”, he submitted.
While describing his tenure as President as challenging but exciting, Mr. Ruwase pointed out that it was an experience which he will forever cherish and treasure as it afforded him a great opportunity to contribute his quota to the development of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nigerian private sector, the Nigerian economy and the country as a whole.
While thanking the almighty God and members of the Chamber for the opportunity to serve and for their cooperation and support, he requested them to give the same impressive support to his successor.
Photo: Outgoing President of LCCI, Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase.
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @ptreporters and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
