The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) is working to integrate digital platforms across government agencies to eliminate duplication, simplify regulatory compliance and improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Director-general of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Audu, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, saying businesses currently face the burden of submitting the same information repeatedly to multiple government institutions despite ongoing digitalisation efforts.
According to her, many Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have digitised their services independently, creating fragmented systems that increase compliance costs for businesses.
“Many MDAs have digitised their services, but they are digitising in silos. Businesses still provide the same information to multiple agencies.
“We are working towards an integrated system where businesses submit information once and authorised agencies can access it, thereby reducing duplication and improving efficiency.
“The initiative forms part of PEBEC’s broader strategy to improve Nigeria’s business environment and enhance investors’ experience,” Audu said.
She explained that the objective was to reduce the time businesses spend on regulatory compliance, enabling them to focus more on productive activities and investment.
Beyond digital integration, Audu said PEBEC had intensified engagement with state governments through its Subnational Ease of Doing Business Tour to encourage reforms across the federation.
She said the Council had visited most states to strengthen subnational ease of doing business councils and promote adoption of best regulatory practices.
According to her, PEBEC is also supporting state governments through the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Programme, implemented in collaboration with the World Bank.
She explained that the programme provides performance-based financing to states implementing agreed business environment reforms.
On regulatory certainty, Audu said the council had strengthened implementation of the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) Framework to ensure government agencies engage stakeholders and assess the economic implications of proposed regulations before implementation.
She cited the transition from the Visa-on-Arrival system to the electronic visa (e-Visa) platform as an example of how stakeholder engagement could help resolve concerns arising from policy changes.
Audu also defended ongoing economic reforms, including exchange rate liberalisation and tax reforms, arguing that they were improving policy predictability and creating a more stable operating environment for businesses.
“Businesses value consistency and the ability to plan more than artificial market distortions,” she said.
She expressed optimism that sustained collaboration among federal and state institutions would further improve Nigeria’s investment climate, strengthen investor confidence and enhance the country’s competitiveness.
According to Audu, PEBEC will continue monitoring implementation of reforms ahead of the release of the 2026 Business Facilitation Act Compliance Report scheduled for November.
