Recent Global Annual Ratings as release by the World Bank ranked Nigeria at 131 among 190 economies in the Ease of Doing Business while some stakeholders also projected the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria to trend around 135 in 2023.
The Ease of Doing Business ratings ranks countries based on how the regulatory environment is conducive to business operation through simpler and friendly regulations for businesses, stronger protections of property rights by governments among other key variables.
Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa after putting in place quality policies to improve standards support as well as create enabling environment for foreign direct investment to thrive however, improved it rating to 131 in 2019 from its position of 146 in 2018.
To appreciate the significant role played by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, (SON) to achieve the height in ensuring standards in every sphere of the economy, the federal government recently returned SON to the port several years after being removed alongside several government regulatory agencies.
The reinstatement of SON to the port among several other feats recorded by the grade “A” government standards agency was a reflection of the unique quality and purposeful leadership of the director-general and chief executive of the SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, who pledged to change the narratives against all odds.
Mallam Salim-led administration in the shortest period of his assumption of office has been in the forefront of facilitating businesses to thrive and grow in Nigeria by ensuring that its processes are captured online to enable prospective clients, stakeholders, prospective partners and customers assess most services online without any difficulty.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is also known for nurturing the Micro, Small and Medium Scale and Enterprises (MSMEs) over the years through trainings and certification of their products especially those ready for export outside the shores of Nigeria.
This is by ensuring maximum support to the MSMEs by reducing drastically the costs of standards by half to enable them effectively apply the requirements to whatever goods they produce or services they carry out.
This feat and many others have not gone unnoticed as the organisation recently received an award as the best government agency for showing resilience both in conducts and operation of Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) was also conferred with an award in the category of “Institution in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria” by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Director-general, SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, recently at an award dinner said, “The core mandate of SON is to establish and enforce standards and quality so as to forestall influx of substandard products into the country and also ensure that our industries stay afloat and sustain production from the standpoint of quality assurance.
“The award was an attestation to the hard work and dedication put in by SON staff all across the country to ensure that industries are constantly inspected so that consumer end-products are beneficial to consumers who will drive demand by their use, and with demands, more production and the economy will thrive for the better,” he said.
Based on the giant stride recorded by SON in ensuring sanity in the nation’s economy, expectations are that the agency continues to prioritise its key mandate of providing the manufacturing and industrial sectors the requisite standards, quality assurance and technical know-how for the overall benefit of Nigeria.
David Isiguzo is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja.
