A Summary of Policy Proposals in the Blue Book for Nigeria
Proposed Action Plan Description
The President is to issue an Executive Order that the NIPC, which is officially part of
①Establish the Nigeria Investment the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, be transferred to the Presidency, in
Promotion Commission (NIPC) within the line with the country's commitments under the Economic Community of West African
Presidency States (ECOWAS) investment chapter, namely that an IPA be placed within a
country’s highest authority in order to efficiently promote investment measures.
②Nigeria's One-Stop Investment Centre NIPC should finalize the protocol of authority, since the power and authority
(OSIC) to Negotiate Protocols of delegated to the officers of 16 bodies at OSIC vary in terms of investment promotion
Cooperation with Participating Agencies and approval/permit procedures.
Nigeria could establish a pilot MFEZ intended for all industrial projects, be they
③Establish a Pilot Multi-Facility Economic
export- or local market-oriented, by identifying and developing maximum physical and
Zone (MFEZ)
knowledge infrastructure as well as security within one or two targeted areas.
④Install a Computerized Investor Tracking
Convenience for investors should be increased by installing an “ i-Track” system in
System for the One-Stop Investment
OSIC which enables the unified management of electronic investor data.
Centre
The tax improvement proposals contained in the report submitted by the Presidential
Committee on the Review of Incentives, Waivers and Concessions, which the
⑤Streamline the Tax System
President established to identify and analyze the complexity of the tax system,
especially at the state and local levels, should be reflected in the budget of 2010.
A Presidential Land Initiative aimed at securing individual land rights should be
⑥Establish a Presidential Initiative to implemented, since investors are facing difficulty with obtaining land titles or
Spread Best Practice in the Transfer of leaseholds. In this context, the State of Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory
Land Rights (FCT) have taken a number of positive steps that could be rolled out across the
country.
Since approximately 70% of the Nigerian labor force is in agriculture, NIPC should
work with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to
⑦Target Investors in the Agro-Allied Sector
prepare feasibility studies related to the agro-allied sector, with an eye to giving
investment priority to this sector.
While Nigeria currently operates a system called Expatriate Quota for awarding work
permits to non-ECOWAS nationals, the scarce skills list should replace the
⑧Create a Scarce Skills List
expatriate quota to strike a balance between the needs of investors and Nigerian
workers.
⑨Create a Client's Charter for NIPC and NIPC should prepare a published charter of the time and cost required for the
Other Institutions Dealing with Investors delivery of different types of licenses.
An independent competition authority (the Federal Competition Commission) should
⑩Establish the Federal Competition
be established to control anti-competitive conduct affecting business in the Nigerian
Commission
market.
The new set of labor bills featuring important changes such as notice periods of not
⑪Adopt the Proposed New Labour Bills less than one month should be adopted to improve the working environment and to
resolve strikes and other labor disputes.
A sensitization workshop should be carried out for the benefit of parliamentarians,
⑫Sensitize Parliamentarians on Investment
since they have traditionally been indifferent to the promotion and facilitation of
Issues
investment.
DTTs should be signed with other ECOWAS members to boost trading in the western
⑬Sign Double Taxation Treaties (DTTs) with African region. While Nigeria has signed DTTs only with non-ECOWAS member
the Economic Community Of West African countries, South Africa has firmly established itself as a hub for the southern African
States (ECOWAS) Area region by signing DTTs with almost all members of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC).
⑭Create a Pilot Business Linkages A pilot program should be adopted to promote business linkages between
Programme transnational corporations (TNCs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Since the roles of the federal agencies and state governments in promoting and
⑮Formalize Federal–State Roles in facilitating investment have not been formalized to the extent required in a large
Investment Promotion and Facilitation federal system, federal and state levels should formalize satisfactory roles and
ground rules in FDI attraction and facilitation.