The Federal Government through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has unveiled the REPORTGOV.NG App, a new Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Mobile App to drive the ease of doing business initiative.
The REPORTGOV.NG App, which is a web-based portal, is Nigeria’s official public service feedback and complaints platform for business environment reforms.
The innovative app will allow the PEBEC office to resolve issues and complaints encountered by private sector operators with government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) within 72 hours of lodging same.
The PEBEC was established in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari with the aim of eliminating the delays and restrictions that come with doing business in Nigeria.
The launch of the web-based application was, therefore, a step forward in the Federal Government’s resolve to make the business environment conducive and also boost domestic and foreign investments.
At the unveiling of the app in Lagos, last week Thursday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Office of the Vice President, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the platform would facilitate the escalation and resolution of issues encountered with MDAs towards ensuring a more business-friendly environment.
She explained that the app was co-launched by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okey Enelamah; Chairman, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Mr. Adedotun Sulaiman and herself at the Regulatory Conversations (RC3.0) event.
The event themed “Improving Transparency and Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria” was hosted by The Convention on Business Integrity/The Integrity Organisation in collaboration with ActionAid, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and BusinessDay Newspapers.
Dr. Oduwole described the app as revolutionary, pointing out that Nigeria has never walked down this road before. “Collaboration has been the cornerstone of this initiative,” she said, adding that PEBEC engaged extensively with various stakeholders.
She noted that the initiative was aimed at making sure that public and civil servants adhere to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on making the business environment conducive
The presidential aid said the PEBEC has spent a lot of time building capacity to ensure that feedbacks and complaints from the private sector are resolved within the 72 hours approved by the president.
Also speaking, Dr. Enelamah said the launch of the app was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to being a business enabler and facilitator. “It’s about energizing businesses and making the business environment conducive,” he said.
The Minister added that the app is already available on Google Play Store for download, and it will soon be available on the iOS store to enable users give feedback or complaint that will drive continuous improvement in service delivery and public protection efforts.
The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, described the app as “A game changer and one of the best things to happen to this country.”
He said although, the PEBEC office has been doing a lot, it’s still work in progress. “There is still a whole lot more to be done, despite a few signs of progress that have been made,” he said.
Yusuf, who spoke during a panel discussion to discuss issues bordering on transparency and efficiency of service delivery in Nigeria, however, observed that there is need for the World Bank to review the indicators for composition of the EoDB Index to reflect the reality of each country.
He said countries vary in their peculiarities and challenges; that some of the indicators in the EoDB composition do not properly capture the critical variables in the Nigerian environment such as power, transportation and security.
“We need to address all these other variables that are not on the list of the EoDB parameters,” Yusuf said, pointed out, for instance, that the present indicators are about construction permit, ease of starting business, credit, reforms, trading across borders, amongst others.
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Source: Nation
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