Further to our Regulatory Compliance Update on the National Action Plan on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria [See here] the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on the 18th day of May 2017, signed three executive orders, one of which is the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the Nigeria (the “Executive Order”). Highlights of the Executive Order include:
- Transparency in MDAs: Each Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA) is required to publish a complete list of all requirements or conditions for obtaining products and services. The list shall (i) include all fees and timelines required for the processing of applications for products and services (ii) be conspicuously pasted on the premises of the relevant MDA and published on its website within 21 days from the date of issuance of the executive order. The said list is expected to be kept up-to-date at all times. If there is any conflict between a published and an unpublished list of requirements, the published list shall prevail.
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Default Approvals: The Executive Order makes provision for deemed approvals in the event a relevant agency or official fails to communicate approval or rejection of an application within the time stipulated in the published list. An Applicant whose application is deemed granted under the Executive Order may apply to the Minister for the time being in charge of the application for the issuance of any document or certificate in evidence of the grant within 14 days of lapse of the MDA’s stipulated timeline for the application.The mode of communication of official decisions must be contained in the published requirements of any MDA. Where applications are rejected within the stipulated timeline, all rejections shall be given with reasons.Also, an applicant’s acknowledgement copy of the application, including electronic submission acknowledgements, shall serve as proof of the date of submission of the application for purposes of determination of the commencement of application timeline.
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One Government Directive: In order to ease the challenges of dealing with multiple agencies by an applicant, the Executive Order imposes an obligation on the MDA to whom an application is submitted to liaise with other MDAs who may also be issuing permits and licenses in relation to the same application. This aspect of the Executive Order is highly commendable as it relieves the applicant of the burden of dealing with multiple agencies with respect to the same application.Also, the Executive Order mandates Service Level Agreements between MDAs which shall be binding as between the MDAs and can be relied with respect to published timelines for processing of applications for products and services. We believe this aspect of the Executive Order will not only foster inter-agency co-operation but also ensure efficient service delivery to applicants.
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Entry Experience of Visitors:
- The timeline for tourist and business entry visas to Nigeria is expected to be issued or rejected by the Nigerian Embassies within 48 hours of receipt of a valid application.
- A comprehensive and up to date list of requirements, conditions and procedures for obtaining visa on arrival, including estimated timeframe, shall be published on all immigration-related websites in Nigeria and abroad, including all ports of entry into Nigeria.
- Visas on arrival shall be granted at all Nigerian ports of entry once applicants have met all the published requirements.
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Ports Operations:
- All relevant MDAs at the airports are to merge their respective departure and arrival interfaces into a single customer interface. The single interface station at each Port shall capture, track and record information on all goods arriving and departing from Nigeria.
- Within 30 days of the issuance of the Executive Order, each Port in Nigeria shall assign an existing export terminal to be dedicated to the exportation of agriculture produce.
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The Apapa Port shall resume 24-hour operations within 30 days of the issuance of the Executive Order.
- Registration of Businesses: The CAC shall within 14 days of the issuance of the Executive Order ensure that all registration processes at the CAC are fully automated through the website from the start of an application process to completion.
We believe the foregoing elements of the Executive Order if properly implemented will go a long-way in improving Nigeria’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business. Also, in subsequent alerts, we shall be examining how the Executive Order will affect doing business in certain specific industries.
