Nigerian businesses suffering over regulation, says NCRIB

Brokerage arm of the nation’s insurance industry has said that businesses in the country would do better if there was harmonisation of rules and regulation, where supervisory bodies interrelate for efficiency.

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has advocated reduction of institutional rules and regulations in order to incentivise business and professional growth in Nigeria.

Ayodapo Shoderu, president, NCRIB who spoke at the National Seminar for Federal Regulatory and Intervention Agencies organised by the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Abuja, said the Council was of the view that the several rules and regulations which most professionals and business operations were being subjected to may stunt their growth in the long run.

“The fact must be made that business and industry in Nigeria are subjected to many unnecessary complex and inflexible rules, foisted on them by government and regulatory institutions, some of which are difficult to reconcile with public interest goals,” Shoderu said.

The NCRIB President noted further that cumbersome local regulations concerning financial, health and safety standards, technical procedures, labour development and administrative set-up can constrain corporate operations, while overlapping jurisdictions within the three tiers of government has continued to clog the growth of business in the country.

The Council advised that Nigeria should borrow a leaf from the UK government which in 1985, through the Department of Trade and Industry, carried out an inter-department scrutiny of regulatory burdens on particularly on small businesses. “It was found that compliance with government requirements had imposed significant additional cost on business and this led to the white paper which spelt out the implications of over regulation,” explained the NCRIB President.

The NCRIB also advised that the nation’s business laws should be constantly reviewed in order to attune them to reality of contemporary development and challenges.

“It is unfortunate that most of the laws, including business laws in Nigeria are archaic and in dire need of review. Many of the laws carrying infractions or financial punishments for infringements are ridiculously meagre, predisposing some unethical players to circumvent the laws, bearing in mind that the penalty for such is inconsequential, compared to cost of compliance”

The Council also suggested more inter-agency collaboration as an incentive to business operations, noting that whether at states or federal levels, institutions rendering similar services must harmonise their operations, bearing in mind that duplication of those agencies contribute more to the misery of business owners and corporate entities.

The Council specifically commended the recent integration of NAICOM into the Board of Nigeria Pensions Commission (PENCom), under the new Pension Reform Act 2014, stressing that the step will buoy the development of pension administration in Nigeria as it has brought into central focus the contributions of the insurance industry which has pension as one of its core mandates.