Atiku Shares Thoughts On Ease Of Doing Business And Opportunities For Economic Growth (#Time2Atikulate series)

Abubakar Atiku says Nigeria has always held enormous potential but that potential has yet to be fulfilled despite it being Africa’s largest economy and a prime investment destination.

According to the PDP presidential front runner “our country is blessed with formidable natural, physical and human resources. A vast domestic market and access to ECOWAS give it more than enough absorptive capacity to sustain a wide range of agricultural, industrial, and service activities. Yet business is tougher than it ought to be, and the economy is stuttering.”

Speaking further, the former Vice President says “we have just exited a recession and Nigeria is ranked a poor 145 out of 189 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rating. It is also ranked 94 out of 131 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Scale. Opaque ownership and corporate governance structures frustrate due diligence and limit investment opportunities and irrespective of size, sector, and location, businesses face formidable challenges, including prohibitive capital, electricity, and logistics costs; weak and inconsistent laws and regulations; inefficient, incompetent, and predatory bureaucracies; unpredictable courts; clogged Too often, corporate fortunes hinge on political patronage.”

All these, he says, have to stop because as “President, I promise to undertake the following urgent measures: put an end to erratic policy shifts and regulatory changes; ensure the removal of the maze of unnecessary hurdles faced by anyone wanting to set up a business or access a market and eradicate the arbitrary effects and implications of a complex and sometimes deceitful web of taxes, levies, fees, and ad hoc contributions.”