General News
MAN Seeks Harmonisation of Regulatory Agencies
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has urged for an end to the activities of multiple agencies hurting their businesses, urging the government to fix the overlaps by harmonizing regulatory compliance.
Member companies of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Ikeja Branch, in a meeting of CEOs and MDs on Thursday, presented their demands for harmonisation to the federal and state governments.
The manufacturers dialogued with the Lagos State Government through directors representing the state government’s Ministers of Commerce and Industry, and Environment and Water Resources.
In his keynote speech, the CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said one of the biggest risks that businesses have to cope with in the Nigerian economy is regulatory risk that comes in the form of overlapping regulatory agencies.
He said, “Regulatory risk could manifest in the form of overlapping regulatory regimes, too many regulations, sporadic and frequent regulatory changes, poor interpretations of regulations and the absence of dispute resolution mechanisms between businesses and the regulators.”
Yusuf stated that instances of overlaps exist in the regulatory functions of quality and standards, environmental issues, transportation and logistics, taxation, and international trade.
He said the agencies with an overlap of quality and standards functions include the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the National Agency of Food Drug Administration and Control, Plant Quarantine, Weights and Measures and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
He decried some agencies that he claimed forced business owners to pay for flight tickets for their agents to visit foreign suppliers whose goods are imported into Nigeria for certification.
“Some of them (agencies) practically have the power of life and death over investors. Which is why engagement with the regulators is often very challenging. Some of them can be very overbearing, intimidating investors and sometimes extorting them,” the CPPE boss said.
Yusuf said the overlap in environmental issues is found among agencies, including the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency and other subnational equivalents, the Ministry of Environment at the federal and state levels.
Others are the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Lagos Waste Management Authority, and Local Government Environmental Unit.
Further, Yusuf said overlap of functions happens in logistics and transportation, through agencies such as the Vehicle Inspection Office, Police, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and other state traffic management agencies; Local Government Traffic officials and Task Force.
For tax administration, Yusuf said there was an overlap between the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms and the other major institutions in the tax environment, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service, State Internal Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs Service and Local Government Tax Units,
The CPPE CEO said the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms was mandated to prune down the number of taxes to less than ten, as there are 40 different kinds of taxes and levies exacted from Nigerians currently.
Nigeria’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market is on a fast-growing trajectory and is predicted to be valued $2.61 billion by 2030, up 83% from $1.42 billion in 2024, owing primarily to the rapid emergence of fintechs in the country.
This observation was stated in EnterpriseNGR’s State of Enterprise 2025 report, which focuses on how fintechs are reshaping Nigeria’s business landscape through digital innovations, accessible credit systems, and mobile-first financial tools.
As a credit system, BNPL allows users to stagger payments for products and services, making it a key development driver in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
From 2021 to 2024, the BNPL experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 23.1%. Fintechs have contributed to the rapid growth by providing a range of flexible loan alternatives for e-commerce, retail, and services, bridging financial gaps for millions of disadvantaged Nigerians.
The report highlights how fintechs have contributed to Nigeria’s flexibility and resiliency by simplifying digital payments, automating invoicing and payroll systems, and democratising credit through platforms such as Renmoney and FairMoney.
The report also shows a significant rise in remittance inflows into Nigeria following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2024 policy adjustments.
According to the report, by 2024, Nigeria boasted over 400 licensed digital lenders who extend collateral-free credit to those commonly excluded by banks.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) strengthened bilateral relations with the Netherlands’ government through an agreement targeted at improving migration governance and border security.
This partnership was confirmed during a meeting at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, which was attended by a Dutch team led by Jurgen Bartelink, Chargé D’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on increasing bilateral migration cooperation and came after the comptroller general of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, paid a working visit to the Netherlands.
Under the agreement, the Dutch government pledged to continue supporting technology-driven solutions targeted at boosting Nigeria’s border control systems and improving migration management.
During the Netherlands Embassy diplomats handed over essential operational tools, such as Edison Software licence keys and the Passport Examination Programme Manual App.
According to NIS spokeswoman ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, “The partnership focuses on enhancing bilateral collaboration on migration management and reviewing ongoing capacity-building efforts.”
Bartelink, Chargé d’Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, underlined the Netherlands’ commitment to helping Nigeria’s continuing border security and migration reforms.
Also speaking, Rob Bokhoven, head of international affairs, repatriation, and deportation services at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, emphasised the country’s strong bilateral relations and announced plans to share a mobile border software solution with the NIS.
Receiving the equipment, Nandap said the delivery of the gadgets would boost West African country’s border security, significantly improve the service’s document verification border management capabilities and support the implementation of Nigeria’s National Migration Policy.
“The engagement will further reinforce the strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands advancing shared goals in migration governance, border security and international cooperation,” she added.
Peter Enogb, principal country economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), says the rise in global uncertainty, emanating from increases in global trade tariffs, has slowed Nigeria’s projected growth to 3.2% in 2025.
“Without this level of heightened uncertainty, our projections would probably have been somewhat higher. We’ve reduced our projections for Nigeria. We initially were projecting 3.5% – 3.6% growth in 2025.
“But given the current situation, our models are showing that we’re taking a more cautious approach. So that’s why we produced this and, of course, the main driver is uncertainty in the global economy,” Enogb said.
He said this at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report (CFR) on Thursday.
AFDB projected that real GDP growth would hit 3.1% in 2026. Following the 2024 consumer price index (CPI) rebasing, with lower weights for food items, the inflation rate is expected to reduce over the medium term to 24.7% in 2025 and 17.3% in 2026.
As imports start to rise over the medium term, the current account is projected to decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the second consecutive month to 22.97% in May. This is down from 24.48% at the start of the year
This is contrary to the World Bank projection that Nigeria’s economy would record steady growth of 3.6% despite the shift in the global trade dynamics.
Joseph Ogebe, head of research and development at Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), also said that global uncertainty had been very high in recent times, resulting from the Trump 2.0 effect.
“And also with the recent war between Israel and the international community, we’ve seen what’s happening to oil prices. Even with the call-off of the war, we’ve seen the effect on oil prices too, which has implications on the fiscal side. So it has implications for the general economy,” he said.
The head of research at NESG said that rather than focusing on just growth, what should be looked at is a strategy called growth with depth.
“Growth with depth means that your growth must be diversified, export-led, productive, and technologically driven,” he said.
Ogebe said that if the Government works towards adopting a strategy of growth with depth, there is a tendency for the government to move towards its goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The report revealed that the country’s recent policy moves, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms, reflect a commitment to long-term transformation.
However, it also pointed out that at about 13%, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in West Africa, noting that fiscal reforms are urgent.
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