Project Case Study
Enabling good business in Nigeria
Improving business and supporting business, media and the state to improve policies and regulations
Despite its huge economic potential, Nigeria has one of the most challenging business environments in the world. We took an innovative approach to tackling, on a sustainable basis, some of the underlying barriers that prevent Nigeria from developing and implementing more supportive pro-business laws, regulations, and policies.
The country ranked 148th out of 180 on the Transparency Initiative’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index and this international perception of Nigeria contributed to low rates of investment. The rating reflects that much of the oil wealth that makes up 80% of government revenue was siphoned off by officials, doing little to improve the lives of the 152 million people in Nigeria (80% of total population) who live below the poverty line.
ASI worked with government bodies and the legislature to improve how they consult and legislate on business issues. We worked with with business associations to advocate more effectively on behalf of members; with media organisations to improve their investigation and reporting of issues facing small businesses; and with research houses to improve the evidence available to stakeholders and policy-makers.
ENABLE2 partners ended up working on a wide variety of business environment issues, from local matters such as persistent fires in Kano’s commercial markets, to concerns of national importance such as the Federal Competition Bill.
A particularly successful initiative was the legislation to create the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtables (NASSBER). In its first 18 months, NASSBER led to the passage of two bills – Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act (Collateral Registry Act) and Credit Reporting Act – particularly impressive, considering that the National Assembly had passed no significant business-related legislation in nearly 20 years.
NASSBER was a factor in pushing Nigeria back up the Doing Business Rankings. In 2017/18, Nigeria was in the top 10 global reformers for the first time, moving up 24 places, with the Credit Reporting Act and Collateral Registry Act making the biggest contribution.
ENABLE2 contributed to 53 new or improved public-private dialogues and 15 cases of reform, benefiting 608,000 micro enterprises by project-end.
