Business Facilitation Act To Boost Transparency, Efficiency

The passage of the Business Facilitation Act (BFA) is expected to bring more transparency and efficiency to public service delivery by government agencies relating with the private sector and thus help grow the economy.

This was stated by the special Adviser to the president on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, at a forum on the Business Facilitation Act hosted by the Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Oduwole noted that, the passage of the BFA was essential as it is a soft infrastructure that is critical to improving productivity. She noted that the BFA will translate to increased ease of doing business in the country.

“There will be more ease of doing business when you have more transparency and efficiency of public service delivery, as this translates directly into more productivity, more competitiveness. Traditionally governments focus on hard infrastructure such as roads rail. For the first time, there has been a very vibrant intervention on soft infrastructure which borders on regulations, transparency, communication and timelines.

“Those are what private sector need. They need certainty, they want efficiency, they want transparency. So, this gives them the opportunity to do their work and to grow their businesses. This is all Nigerians have asked for Nigerians are extremely industrious. Nigerians are extremely entrepreneurial.” Oduwole stated.

On his part, the chairman, NBA Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Adeoye Adefulu, noted that, the act signed into law on February 14, 2023, was a significant milestone in developing the country’s business environment, adding that it incorporated key principles of Executive Order 001.

He urged lawyers to encourage their clients to use the Act.

“As lawyers and business professionals, we have a critical role to play in ensuring that our clients and businesses use the Act and are well versed with its provisions so that we can contribute to the growth and development of the economy, create new jobs and enhance the quality of life of all Nigerians,” he said.

Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo, Toyin Bashir, speaking on the panel, said the BFA was created to address transparency and efficiency because after creating reforms, it would be implemented by civil servants.

She said the Act encouraged government organisations to have their websites and input information relevant to the people they serve. “So, this birthed the idea of executive order. In the law, we have provisions touching on transparency. Processes, documentation and timeliness are expected to be on the website.

“Finally, we have the government having a legal binding agreement with the public, essentially detailing with those processes, documentation and timeliness again, and we are holding them accountable to the information published,” she stated.

Bashir said the need for collaboration was also discussed, where separate agencies could work together to make processes efficient.