August 3, 2007

'Costliest Place for Business'

By Reuben Buhari, This Day (Lagos)

Nigeria has been described as the costliest place for business, with investors investing almost double of what is required in other countries within the region.

Chairman, EcoBank, Chief John Odeyemi, said this at a reception yesterday in Kaduna, in honour of the immediate past president of Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), Alhaji Mohammed Munir Ja'afaru.Presenting a paper titled "The Challenges of Nigeria Organised Private Sector in the Borderless West African Sub-Region," Odeyemi said Nigeria's private sector is disadvantaged when faced with competition from other countries, not for lack of good entrepreneurs, but due to the daunting cost of doing business in the country.

According to him, these cost variable, which are out of the control of the private sector are; high energy cost, high tax regime, policy inconsistency which aggravates business risk, high interest rate regime, multiplicity of taxes and levies and collapse of the rail system.

Odeyemi, who is the immediate past president of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said if government could deal with these cost challenges, the private sector would be more comfortable with economic integration and trade liberalisation within the West African sub-region.

Highlighting the global importance of economic integration, Odeyemi said "the truth is that economic integration is what is in vogue globally. No country can afford to remain as an island and function in isolation. This is a reality which we should begin to grapple with and construct strategies to deal with the inherent challenges.," he said.