The Federal Government has commenced moves to attain the top 70 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking by 2023 with the adoption of National Action Plan 6.0 (NAP 6.0), as well as reduce malnutrition in Nigeria by 50 percent in the next five years.
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, disclosed this yesterday at the meetings of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) where NAP 6.0 was adopted and the National Council on Nutrition, both held in Abuja. Recall that in 2019, Nigeria rose 15 places on the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business Index to rank 131, from 146th in the previous year, and up 39 places since 2016 when PEBEC was established.
According Osinbajo, the adoption of NAP 6.0 is meant to retain results delivered so far in the Ease of Doing Business reforms in Nigeria, in addition to new reform initiatives consisting of further reduction in the cost of business registration by simplifying the process and eliminating the need for agents. He stated: “The impact of this cost reduction would mean reduced burden on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and substantially increase Nigeria’s score in the global ranking and more importantly improve the business environment. “Another new initiative is the proposed reduction in the cost of electrical installations and new connections to the grid by eliminating import tariffs. The reduction in cost will lead to more new and affordable connections.”
Meanwhile, the National Council on Nutrition chaired by the Osinbajo also approved a 5-year plan that will reduce the proportion of people who suffer malnutrition by 50 percent; increase exclusive breastfeeding rate to 65 percent and reduce stunting rate among under-five year olds to 18 percent by 2025 through the scaling up of priority high impact nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. The council approved the action plan titled,
source: Vanguard
