World Bank Report on Doing Business In Nigeria

The world Bank prepared a report on Doing Business in Nigeria . And I must admit, it is not too encouraging. The report considered the time required to start a new business, the cost of starting a new business, the bottle necks to starting a new business, and law enforcement. The report compared the major states in Nigeria including Abuja, Lagos, Sokoto, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ogun, Kano, Cross River, Abia, Enugu, and Anambra states. Here are some of the hightlights:

Nigeria was ranked as the 9th best performer in doing business in Africa at the 108th position behind Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, Swaziland, and Ethiopia.
Unlike Ghana (109 to 87), Mozambique (140 to 134), Kenya (82 to 72), Burkina Faso (165 to 161) who made some form of progress towards reformation, Nigeria was stagnant at 108.
Abuja had the shortest time to start a business at 22 days while it took at least 57 days in Cross River which came in last.
Abuja scored best in terms of bottlenecks while Abia was last.
It is cheapest to start a business in Abuja while it is most expensive in Cross River.
There is a variance in administrative fees required to start up a business.
It is easiest to do business in Kaduna while it is most difficult to do business in Ogun State.
If the best practices are adopted, there is a potential of Nigeria’s ranking improving from the 108th position to the 51st position.

The Growth Report - Africa Highlights (22)
The Growth Report - Presentation (29)

Other findings include:

The performance of all Nigerian states is weakest in the area of registering property. Governor consent for property transfers is the main source of delays and high costs of property transfers throughout Nigeria. The delays in granting consent are longest in states where every consent is signed by the state governor, and shorter where the authority to grant consent has been delegated to another government official. Currently, all Nigerian states would rank low in the global Doing Business ranking. Abuja, FCT — Nigeria’s top performer on this indicator — would rank only 157 out of 178 economies worldwide.
Registering a business has become significantly easier across Nigeria, thanks to computerization of the registry, establishment of zonal branches of Corporate Affairs Commission, and new Stamp Duty offices. Company registration remains fastest in Abuja, where the headquarters of Corporate Affairs Commission are located.
Compliance with building regulation is easier and cheaper in northern states. There is wide variance in the cost of obtaining building permits across Nigeria. A permit for the same warehouse would cost just 25% of Nigeria’s income per capita in Sokoto, and 826% in Lagos.
There are substantial differences in the time and cost to enforce a commercial contract in Nigeria. Typically, court performance is better in states that have already implemented the new High Court rules, such as Abuja, FCT, Lagos, and Kaduna. Across the country, enforcement time substantially contributing to delays in recovery of commercial debts.