Nba section on business law, Nigeria’s economy and the 2015 agenda!

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by GDP, remains a desired investment destination in spite of a decline in revenues occasioned by a fall in global oil prices, a devalued naira and other prevailing economic conditions.

“With its population about 20 percent of total African population and an economy larger than the 15 West African countries combined, the oil rich nation has remained a desired destination for investors, holding significant untapped potential,” affirms Mary Iwelumo, a partner in PwC Nigeria and head of strategy and operations, PwC West Africa, in a recent article.

This desirable investment climate has become even more clement now that a fresh wave of optimism is sweeping across the country as the newly-elected president – a man known for his zero tolerance for corruption and whose major campaign promises centred on “improving developmental indices (poverty reduction, employment, security, etc.), tackling corruption, insecurity and diversifying the economy” – prepares to take over the reins of power on May 29.

This is why the 9th edition of the Annual Business Law Conference scheduled for June 7-9, barely a week after the inauguration of the new government, could not have come at a better time as it seeks to set an economic agenda for the incoming Muhammadu Buhari presidency. The conference, which will hold at Eko Hotel, Lagos, will bring together legal practitioners, businesspeople, policymakers, government officials, and academics, providing them an adequate forum to discuss and dialogue on topical issues around policies and regulations that shape economic growth.

Asue Ighodalo, chairman of the Council of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), organisers of the conference, echoed this at a press briefing to announce the conference when he said that the 2015 conference is coming at a time when citizens have great expectations of the government.

“Thus with our theme for this year, ‘Regulators as Catalysts for Economic Growth’, we hope to engage regulators, policymakers and key actors in the economy with a view to exchanging ideas and causing a change towards the improvement of Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business Index,” said Ighodalo.

He noted that with the successful conduct of the general elections, the country is poised for new beginnings, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan’s peaceful conduct would further boost the country’s democratic credentials and reputation.

Indeed, on the back of the outcome of the polls and subsequent events, “Nigeria saw its stock index rise by 8.3 percent and its currency, the naira, rose by 7 percent against the dollar in the parallel market”.

“Suddenly, the business environment is showing a bullish stance after months of lull and inactivity. In coming months, better economic indices such as lower exchange rates in the official market would imply lower costs for businesses and companies would be more willing to meet financial obligations,” Iwelumo writes in the article ‘Business in Nigeria post election’.

It is interesting that this year’s SBL conference, according to its organizers, will be a Davos-style beehive of information aimed at broadening the perspectives of the business community and business lawyers on issues pertaining to the Nigerian economy, borrowing from China, the power sector and more.

With the conference focusing on ‘Long-term Global Economic Trends and Implications for Nigeria’, ‘Improving Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business Index’, ‘Raising Money for Projects: Latest Trends in Nigerian Financing’, ‘Nigeria’s Power Privatization Process: Learning Curve and Next Steps’, ‘Value-based Pricing for Legal Services’, ‘Nigerian Content and the Service Industry’, ‘Chinese Lending in Africa’, among other key sessions, there is no doubt that it will be plentiful harvest for the investing public and the entire business community.

The harvest promises to be even richer with confirmed conference speakers that include John Hawksworth, chief economist of PwC, a frontline global accounting and audit firm; Mawenah Trerbah, chief executive officer of the Ghana Investment Commission; Bello Mahmud, registrar-general of Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Ghana’s minister of trade and industry, among a host of other prominent speakers.

The theme of the conference, ‘Regulators as Catalysts for Economic Growth’, is equally relevant for many reasons, especially because the regulatory environment in Nigeria in the recent past has been far from encouraging. Regulatory agencies in the country may have inadvertently constituted themselves into a burden on investors, with government apparently looking the other way.

Writing in a recent article, Keith Richards, former managing director/chief executive officer of Promasidor, points to such regulatory bottlenecks as intra-agency competition among some regulators in a mad race to raise ‘Internally Generated Revenue’. He cites recent examples that include the competition among regulators in the food and beverage sector over “who registers new food products, who oversees promotional activity, and who inspects at the ports” – all of which, he says, become an expensive minefield for producers.

“In addition to fees and barriers, many agencies now levy fines and penalties or even close depots and factories without recourse to any rule of law,” says Richards.

The theme of the conference is therefore in order because for businesses to thrive, especially in a country like Nigeria where starting and running a business is filled with numerous bottlenecks and hurdles, the regulatory environment must be properly structured and all the necessary legal frameworks put in place to protect investors and their investments. The time is now for the new administration to look into the activities of the various regulatory agencies with a view to reviewing their roles in order to create a better regulatory environment that does not stifle business.

Over the years, one of the cardinal principles of the conference has been to involve the business community as well as policymakers in all the activities of the section so as to ensure that the activities are not reduced to mere talk shops, but to influence advancement in legal practice, policy, business development and government action. This year’s conference will be no exception.

According to the conference planning committee, the 2015 conference aims to attract at least 1,000 delegates, including practicing lawyers, in-house counsel in the private and public sector, corporate Nigeria and the government. Conference activities would also include an opening dinner, a boat cruise, a closing party and an excursion for young lawyers to three top law firms for mentoring sessions.

The Section on Business Law is the specialist arm of the Nigerian Bar Association which engenders the development of commercial law and specialised legal practice in Nigeria. Its annual business law conferences seek to create an environment for business lawyers within and outside Nigeria to network and engage on issues relevant to their field and to establish a thriving relationship between the business community and government institutions.

CHUKS OLUIGBO